;iii>;ifij(j;i^;v:;;j;iiJJ!|(>i|;5Uf;(i5(i(ji^ 


C).  { 


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MAY   1   1918 


AN    OLD    KOREAN    ANIMIST 


POPULAR  ASPECTS  OF 
ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 


/ 


/BY  I  y    t  I 


L.  O.  HARTMAN,  Ph.D. 


THE  ABINGDON   PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


,,   .-i^V.^X 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
L.  O.  HARTMAN 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

Foreword 7 

I.    Korea — Spirit  Land 11 

II.     Fifty  Centuries  of  Worship 39 

III.     The  Mystical  Hindus 65 

IV.     Under  the  Bo-Tree 1 1'J 

V.    The  Moslem  Millions 1()7 

VI.     The  Fire  Worshipers -^O'} 

VII.     Summary  and  Conclusion 287 

Index *^-*7 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


An  Old  Korean  Animist Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Stone  Iiviage  and   Lantern 21 

Spirit  Posts 21 

Funeral  Chair  with  the  Spirit  of  the  De- 
parted    32 

The  Grave  of  Kija,  Founder  of  Korea 32 

The  South  Gate  of  Heaven  on  Tai  Shan  ...  42 

The  Oldest  Place  of  Worship  in  the  World  42 

The  Grave  of  Confucius 48 

Marble  Pillars,  Tejviple  of  Confucius 48 

The  Temple  of  Heaven 58 

A  Corner  in  the  Temple  of  Hell 58 

Procession  at  a  Hindu  Mela 69 

A  Deformed  Fakir 69 

The  Linga  Chapel — Caves  of  Elephanta.  ...  79 

A  Hindu  Holy  Man 79 

A  Hindu  Boy  Before  a  Linga  Symbol 85 

Hindu  Children  at  the  Birthplace  of  Krishna  85 

A  Man  of  the  Sweeper  Caste 92 

A  Child   Bride  Four  Years  of  Age 92 

The  Wheel  of  Existence 121 

A  Chinese  Buddhist  Priest 121 

The  "Hearse"  at  a  Priest's  Funeral 139 

A  Buddhist  Shrine  in  Process  of  Construc- 
tion    139 


6  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING  PAGE 

A  Group  of  Tibetans  on  Tiger  Hill 146 

A   Buddhist   Prayer  Wheel 146 

A  Buddhist  Monastery  in  Burma 155 

Buddhist  School  Boys  in  Japan 155 

Interior  Pearl   Mosque   at  Agra 174 

Mohammedans  at  Worship 174 

The  Taj   Mahal 187 

Marble    Screen    at    the    Entrance    of    the 

Taj   Mahal 187 

A  Mohammedan  School  in  Bombay 196 

Mohammedan  School  Children 196 

A  Parsee  Tower  of  Silence 218 

A  Group  of  Parsee   School   Boys 233 

A  Group  of  Parsee  School  Girls 233 


FOREWORD 

The  viewpoint  of  this  book  is  that  of  a  traveler 
in  Oriental  lands  seeking  to  observe  how  the 
teachings  of  the  various  religions  of  the  Far  East 
actually  work  out  in  life.  In  connection  with  such 
a  popular  treatment  of  these  faiths  brief  surveys 
of  their  fundamental  theories  also  have  been  em- 
bodied, that  the  reader  may  get  a  proper  setting 
for  a  study  of  the  peculiar  rites,  ceremonies,  and 
customs  of  these  non-Christian  peoples.  Some  at- 
tention likewise  has  been  given  to  the  lives  of  the 
founders  and  the  prominent  leaders  of  these  sects, 
as  well  as  to  the  reform  movements  that  have 
modified  their  original  doctrinal  and  practical  at- 
titudes. The  author's  primary  endeavor,  however, 
has  been  to  find  as  adequate  an  answer  as  possible 
to  the  question,  "What  contribution  do  these  Ori- 
ental faiths  make  toward  the  betterment  of  hu- 
manity and  the  progress  of  civilization.'^"  Such  a 
purpose,  of  course,  can  be  but  partially  realized 
under  the  hmitations  imposed  by  the  brief  chap- 
ters of  this  volume,  but  it  has  been  possible  to 
indicate  the  general  directions  in  which  these  faiths 
move  and  something  as  to  their  actual  fruits  in 
life. 

There  is  need  for  the  exercise  of  great  care  in 

7 


8  FOREWORD 

the  interpretation  not  only  of  the  teachings,  but 
also  of  the  strange  ceremonies  and  customs  of  Ori- 
ental peoples.  There  is  fundamentally  an  Eastern 
type  of  mind  and  attitude  of  soul  with  which  the 
student  of  these  religions  must  come  into  some 
sort  of  sympathy  before  he  can  hope  to  under- 
stand in  any  satisfactory  measure  the  meaning  of 
their  doctrine  and  life.  Moreover,  as  in  the  case 
of  Christianity  itself,  Hinduism,  Buddhism,  and 
most  of  the  other  great  religions  of  the  world 
make  large  use  of  symbolism,  a  fact  that  opens  the 
way  for  the  severest  kind  of  criticism  from  super- 
ficial or  prejudiced  investigators.  Our  own  Chris- 
tian ceremonies  of  baptism  and  the  Eucharist,  for 
example,  could  easily  be  made  to  appear  highly 
ridiculous  by  an  ignorant  or  insincere  Oriental 
traveler  in  Europe  or  America.  Therefore,  we 
need  in  our  study  of  Eastern  faiths  to  be  espe- 
cially on  our  guard  at  this  point,  that  no  injustice 
may  be  done  in  the  inte  pretation  of  their  peculiar 
expressions  of  worship.  In  general,  two  extremes 
must  be  avoided  in  seeking  a  correct  estimate  of 
the  religious  life  of  the  Far  East.  The  first  is 
represented  by  the  attitude  of  the  narrow  partisan 
who  seeks  to  establish  the  superiority  of  Chris- 
tianity by  featuring  the  strange  and  sometimes 
degrading  doctrines  and  customs  of  these  religions 
without  giving  full  credit  for  their  nobler  aspects; 
the  other  extreme  is  represented  by  the  silly  sen- 
timentalists who  find,  especially  in  India,  the  com- 
plete solution  for  the  religious  problem,  and  by  a 


FOREWORD  9 

process  of  glossing  over  the  sickening  facts  and 
reading  into  Hindu  teachings  the  great  Christian 
truths,  declare  that  the  Far  East  is  the  original 
source  of  all  that  is  true,  good,  and  beautiful.  In 
view  of  these  two  dangers  the  author  has  sought 
to  orient  himself,  to  find  the  meanings  behind  the 
symbols,  and,  most  of  all,  to  give  full  credit  for 
purity  of  motive,  worthy  ideal,  and  noble  expres- 
sion in  life  wherever  found  in  his  observation  and 
study  of  these  great  faiths.  But  he  has  tried  as  well 
to  discern  their  real  weaknesses  and  their  general 
tendencies  in  relation  to  the  upward  movement  of 
the  human  race. 

For  those  who  may  desire  to  engage  in  a  further 
study  of  the  various  religions  discussed  in  this 
volume  a  list  of  special  reference  books  will  be 
found  at  the  close  of  each  chapter  and  a  general 
one  at  the  end  of  the  book.  This  bibliography 
contains  some  of  the  best  results  of  accredited 
scholarship  and  presents  the  views  and  conclu- 
sions not  only  of  English  and  American  writers, 
but  also  those  of  native  students  and  followers  of 
these  Oriental  faiths.  A  careful  reading,  therefore, 
of  the  books  thus  listed  will  make  for  a  creditable 
understanding  of  comparative  religions  and  will 
tend  to  produce  a  balanced  judgment  as  to  their 
relative  values  in  terms  of  life. 

Brief  articles  on  several  of  the  religions  rep- 
resented in  this  book  appeared  in  1915  in  Zion's 
Herald.  By  permission  of  the  editors  and  pub- 
lisher of  that  paper  this  material  was  made  avail- 


10  FOREWORD 

able  and  large  parts  embodied  in  the  first  four 
chapters  of  the  present  volume.  The  author  de- 
sires to  acknowledge  this  courtesy. 

Chicago,  November,  1916.  L.  O.  H. 


CHAPTER  I 
KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND 


God  rules,  so  hold  your  spirit  even; 
He  is  impartial,  all  is  well. 

— Old  Korean  Hymn. 


CHAPTER  I 

KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND 

There  is  no  tribe  or  people  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  without  a  religion.  This  fact  frequently  has 
been  disputed  by  writers  of  prominence  and  classi- 
fied as  the  unscientific  statement  of  partisans  try- 
ing to  make  a  case  for  faith.  Whatever  truth 
there  may  be  in  such  an  arraignment  of  motive, 
we  know  to-day,  as  a  result  of  most  thorough 
scientific  investigation,  that  the  religious  impulse 
is  world-wide  in  its  scope.  In  so  far  as  history  is 
recorded,  this  universality  also  characterizes  the 
past  as  well  as  the  present.  Although  it  is  a  fact 
that  some  obscure  tribes  have  seemed  to  be  with- 
out religious  instincts,  yet  in  every  instance  this 
assumption,  upon  closer  study,  has  been  proven 
to  be  entirely  erroneous.  That  there  should  be 
mistaken  judgments  in  the  matter,  however,  is  not 
strange,  for  these  would  easily  arise  as  a  result  of 
differences  in  definition.  Does  the  term  "religion" 
involve  a  belief  in  God  and  a  carefully  wrought- 
out  system  of  doctrine  and  ethics,  or  may  we 
consider  a  people  religious  where  there  is  only  a 
primitive  belief  in  magic. ^  Surely,  our  definition 
ought  to  be  broad  enough  to  embrace  both  of  these 
conceptions,  and  under  such  a  view  we  may  in- 

13 


14  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

dude  the  entire  human  family.  Difficulties  also 
arise  in  securing  information  as  to  some  obscure 
forms  of  religion.  Concealment  of  these  deep  in- 
stincts is  frequently  a  fundamental  requirement 
among  savage  worshipers.  Moreover,  it  is  no 
easy  task,  because  of  the  prejudices  of  the  inves- 
tigator and  the  obstacles  and  misunderstandings 
in  the  processes  of  translating  terms,  to  get  the 
real  facts  as  to  certain  religious  beliefs  and  cus- 
toms. In  spite  of  these  difficulties,  however,  and 
under  a  broad  interpretation  of  the  word,  we  are 
safe  in  saying  that  the  religious  instinct  is  a  uni- 
versal one. 

But  how  did  such  an  instinct  originate.^  This 
question  has  led  to  almost  endless  debate  in  the 
field  of  comparative  religion.  Passing  over  that 
superficial  explanation  common  to  atheistic  think- 
ers of  a  century  or  so  ago,  that  all  religion  is  an 
invention  of  priests,  who  capitalized  on  the  fears 
of  men  for  their  own  benefit,  we  note  the  theory 
of  inherent  religious  instincts  sometimes  set  forth 
in  one  form,  sometimes  in  another.  There  are 
those  who  hold  that  in  the  beginning  a  full  revela- 
tion of  spiritual  truth  was  imparted  to  the  entire 
human  race,  but  through  sin  and  the  subsequent 
degeneration  of  mankind  this  clear  vision  was 
dimmed  and  blurred.  To-day,  therefore,  we  find 
in  the  various  religions  of  the  world  only  fragments 
and  glimpses  of  an  eternal  meaning.  In  another 
form,  it  is  said  that  the  race  has  been  moving  up- 
ward rather  than  downward  through  the  centuries. 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  15 

To  all  peoples  the  light  of  true  wisdom  has  been 
given,  and  with  the  passing  of  time  this  light 
shines  brighter  and  brighter  until  at  last  every 
soul  shall  attain  to  the  perfect  form  of  religion 
both  in  doctrine  and  in  practice.  One  of  the 
commonest  explanations,  however,  connects  the 
origin  of  religion  with  fear.  Primitive  man  found 
himself  in  the  midst  of  a  strange  world  of  mj^s- 
terious  happenings.  There  were  devastating  dis- 
eases and  inscrutable  death.  There  were  the 
terrifying  aspects  of  nature — darkness,  extreme 
cold,  thunder,  lightning,  storm,  and  flood.  It  was 
a  world  everywhere  beset  with  calamity.  Out  of 
his  helplessness  and  apprehension,  therefore,  he 
began  to  formulate  plans  to  forestall  or  modify 
these  imminent  dangers.  Upon  such  a  basis,  ac- 
cording to  the  fear  theory,  the  pioneers  of  the 
race  began  to  build  the  structure  of  religion. 
Still  other  students  of  religion  afiirm  that  man's 
early  observance  of  the  uniform  connection  be- 
tween cause  and  effect  accounts  for  its  beginning. 
Even  before  the  dawn  of  history  our  ancestors 
discovered  that  the  race  lived  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  world  process  as  they  watched  the  unfolding 
phenomena  of  nature  and  noted  also  the  outcome 
of  their  own  acts.  From  such  observations  was 
deduced  the  truth  that  every  effect  must  have  a 
cause,  and  this  led,  of  course,  to  the  proclamation 
of  an  unseen  cause  or  causes  back  of  the  universe. 
Professor  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  however,  carries  this 
theory  a  step  farther  and  offers  still  another  ex- 


16  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS     . 

planation  of  the  origin  of  religion.  He  says  that 
primitive  man  early  recognized  that  the  ultimate 
source  of  all  force  is  conscious  will,  and  that  back 
of  the  world  of  things,  therefore,  there  must  be  a 
supernatural  intelligence  with  whom  he  could  com- 
municate. He  arrived  at  this  conviction  by  a 
simple  analogy,  for  all  his  own  activities  were  to 
be  accounted  for  only  by  conscious  will.  In- 
stinctively and  spontaneously  he  applied  the  same 
easy  explanation  to  the  outside  world.  Professor 
Brinton  says:  "What  the  highest  religions  thus 
assume  was  likewise  the  foundation  of  the  earliest 
and  most  primitive  cults.  The  one  universal  trait 
'amid  their  endless  forms  of  expression  was  the 
unalterable  faith  in  Mind,  in  the  supersensuous  as 
the  ultimate  source  of  all  force,  all  life,  all  being. "^ 
Such  are  some  of  the  main  theories  advanced  to 
account  for  the  religious  instinct  in  primitive 
man.  In  seeking  explanations,  however,  we  al- 
ways need  to  guard  ourselves  against  that  common 
desire  to  find  just  one  simple,  all-sufficient  cause 
as  the  final  solution  to  the  problem  in  hand. 
Inasmuch  as  we  have  difficulty  in  accounting  for 
modern  tendencies  in  both  the  individual  and  col- 
lective human  life  of  to-day,  we  certainly  ought 
not  to  assume  too  comprehensive  a  knowledge  of 
the  life  and  mind  of  thousands  of  years  ago. 

Views  as  to  the  origin  of  religion,  however,  fall 
easily  into  two  general  classes — those  that  con- 
ceive of  the  matter  in  purely  naturalistic  terms, 

^  Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples,  pp.  47,  48. 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  17 

and  those  that  set  forth  the  idea  of  a  primal 
revelation  in  some  form.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  point  out  that  most  modern  discussions  are 
dominated  by  the  first  of  these  views  and  that 
the  history  of  religion  is  quite  generally  conceived 
of  as  an  evolutionary  process  from  lower  to  higher. 
Such  a  theory  is  most  attractive  and  falls  in  with 
the  fashion  of  the  day.  We  need  to  remember, 
however,  that  while  the  doctrine  of  evolution  does 
have  wide  application,  it  also  has  its  limitations, 
especially  in  the  explanation  of  processes  into 
which  there  is  the  play  of  free  human  wills.  Here 
the  evolutionist  is  likely  to  fall  into  the  fallacy  of 
the  universal  and  mistake  his  own  mental  processes 
for  the  actual  phenomena  of  reality.  In  the  case 
in  hand  the  naturalistic  explanation  of  the  origin 
of  religion  has  all  the  marks  of  a  true  solution 
until  we  begin  to  review  a  wide  range  of  facts  that 
point  in  an  entirely  different  direction.  The  fact 
that  the  various  races  of  the  world,  as  we  know 
them  to-day,  all  came  from  some  one  central 
birthplace,  and  that  their  history  is  characterized 
by  repeated  and  quite  extended  migrations,  has  an 
intimate  bearing  on  the  problem.  Persistent  tra- 
ditions likewise,  universally  handed  down  among 
the  different  nations  of  the  world,  tell  in  some 
form  or  other  of  the  fall  of  man  from  a  previous 
high  estate.  Moreover,  in  the  actual  development 
of  religions  monotheism  does  not  tend  to  develop 
from  a  previous  condition  of  animism  or  poly- 
theism.   Indeed,  the  situation  is  quite  the  reverse, 


18  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

as  is  clearly  illustrated  especially  in  the  cases  of 
Korea,  China,  and  India.  The  science  of  philology, 
finally,  is  decidedly  against  the  easy  naturalistic 
explanation  of  religious  origins.  These  and  nu- 
merous other  considerations,  therefore,  lend  great 
weight  to  the  explanation  as  set  forth  in  Old 
Testament  literature. 

The  simplest  form  of  religion  of  which  we  have 
historic  knowledge  is  known  by  the  general  term 
Animism,  which  implies  the  custom  of  ascribing 
life  to  the  objects  of  nature.  With  its  apparently 
simple  worship,  however,  there  is  considerable 
complexity  in  its  development  of  varieties  of  spirits 
and  multitudinous  methods  of  propitiation.  Those 
who  hold  to  the  naturalistic  view  of  origins,  of 
course,  would  point  to  animism  as  the  primitive 
form  of  all  religions,  while  those  advocating  the 
idea  that  man  began  his  earthly  career  in  a  sinless 
state  and  in  intelligent  communion  with  his  Maker 
would  contend  that  animism  was  a  degenerate 
form  of  religion.  Animism  in  practice  takes  on 
many  forms.  Out  of  the  view  that  all  objects 
have  souls  there  came  a  desire  to  avert  the  ill 
will  of  hostile  spirits,  whence  originated  the  prac- 
tice of  Magic,  a  scheme  of  deceiving,  flattering,  or 
vanquishing  evil  spirits  by  uttering  magic  formu- 
las, carrying  objects,  imitating  certain  acts,  etc. 
This  use  of  magic  led  naturally  to  the  demand  for 
the  professional  magician.  He  or  she  was  known 
as  a  shaman,  and  that  form  of  animism  in  which 
sorcery  and  exorcism  are  especially  emphasized  is 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  19 

known  as  Shamanism,  one  of  the  best  examples  of 
which  is  to  be  found  among  the  Koreans  and  the 
tribes  of  northern  China.  Ancestor  Worship  too  is 
a  characteristic  of  animistic  peoples,  for  the  de- 
parted relative  joins  the  host  of  spirits  and  bears 
a  very  important  relation  to  those  still  living. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Transmigration  of  Souls  like- 
wise is  another  outcome  of  animistic  logic.  Souls 
of  men  may  occupy  the  bodies  of  lower  animals, 
or  even  vegetables,  and  vice  versa.  Gods  may 
become  incarnate,  and  evil  spirits  may  take  pos- 
session of  good  men.  This  doctrine  finds  a  full 
development  especially  in  India.  Totemism  is 
another  phase  of  animism  found  in  a  highly  de- 
veloped form  among  the  North  American  Indians 
and  the  primitive  races  of  Australia.  According 
to  this  belief,  a  clan  claims  descent  from  some 
particular  animal  or  plant.  It  is  a  kind  of  com- 
munity tradition,  but  does  not  apply  to  indi- 
viduals. Totem  poles  with  their  crude  carvings 
erected  in  the  villages  of  these  savage  tribes  record 
their  strange  genealogies,  and  indicate  the  origin 
of  the  inhabitants.  Taboo  is  one  of  the  most 
potent  forces  in  the  animistic  form  of  religion 
representing  a  low  grade  of  ethics,  altogether  on 
the  negative  side.  Taboo  with  its  system  of  pro- 
hibitions exercises  a  terrible  control  over  the  lives 
of  men,  for  one  may  expect  to  suffer  the  most 
severe  supernatural  penalties  if  he  but  touch  a 
thing  or  person  declared  to  be  taboo.  Moreover, 
the  list  of  these  prohibitions  grows  to  such  pro- 


20  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

portions  with  the  development  of  animisin  that 
the  daily  hfe  of  the  people  is  made  a  grievous 
burden  and  is  filled  with  superstitious  dread. 
Another  interesting  animistic  study  is  the  growth 
of  Idolatry  out  of  the  earlier  Fetishism.  Fetishism 
represents  one  of  the  methods  of  magic  whereby 
supernatural  powers  are  assigned  to  objects  which 
are  afterward  used  as  fetishes.  Idolatry  is  simply 
a  more  highly  developed  and  systematic  fetishism. 

The  Worship  of  Spirits 

Korea  ajffords  a  splendid  field  for  the  study  of 
animism,  especially  in  its  shamanistic  form,  for  the 
country  has  been  so  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  until  modern  times  that  we  now  find  the  be- 
liefs and  customs  of  hundreds  of  years  ago  almost 
in  their  original  form.  Although  the  outward 
signs  of  religion  are  somewhat  meager  in  the 
*Xand  of  the  Morning  Calm,"  still  she  has  her 
full  share  of  the  various  Oriental  systems.  It  is 
said  that  away  back  in  the  dim  and  distant  past, 
about  the  year  B.  C.  1122,  a  great  leader  by  the 
name  of  Kija  came  over  to  what  is  now  Chosen,  or 
Korea,  with  a  half  defeated  army  from  China.  He 
soon  overcame  the  wild  tribes  then  inhabiting  the 
peninsula  and  became  the  founder  of  a  kingdom. 
Whether  or  not  this  be  unreliable  tradition  or  true 
history,  certainly  the  Koreans  must  have  come 
originally  from  China.  So  we  are  not  surprised  to 
find  some  of  the  same  faiths  prevailing  in  this 
land  as  flourish  in  that  great  republic.     Confu- 


!/2 

H 
O 


CZJ 


6q 
O 

72 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  21 

danism,  including  the  doctrine  of  ancestor  wor- 
ship as  its  most  important  teaching,  prevails 
everywhere  in  Korea.  Buddhism  reached  this  land 
about  A.  D.  372,  and  soon  began  to  wield  an 
extensive  influence,  its  missionaries  taking  the  new 
faith  even  to  Japan.  The  fall  of  the  Koryu  dy- 
nasty, however,  was  attributed  to  the  Buddhists, 
and,  therefore,  this  religion  began  to  be  despised. 
For  five  hundred  years  no  Buddhist  priest  was 
allowed  within  the  walls  of  Seoul,  and  the  spirit 
of  disfavor  still  continues.  There  is  also  some 
Taoism,  but  the  followers  are  few.  The  great 
vital  religion,  however,  which  in  the  last  analysis 
holds  real  sway  over  the  people,  is  spirit-worship 
in  the  form  of  Shamanism.  This  faith  controls 
the  masses  of  the  common  people,  and,  in  times  of 
crisis,  the  aristocracy  as  well.  It  permeates  and 
modifies  everv  other  faith  so  that  all  the  above- 
mentioned  religions  are  colored  by  its  influence. 
According  to  this  belief,  the  whole  universe  is 
alive  w^ith  spirits.  There  are  a  few  good  spirits 
and  many  bad  ones.  Some  are  ethereal  beings 
that  have  never  known  physical  embodiment, 
others  are  ghosts  of  the  dead.  There  are  dragons 
and  demons,  fairies  and  goblins,  witches  and  wiz- 
ards, devils,  women-foxes  and  women-wild-cats. 
The  whole  world  is  one  of  strange  and  dangerous 
enchantment.  The  Korean  goes  through  life, 
therefore,  in  constant  fear.  At  every  turn  he 
must  consult  the  geomancer  or  the  exorcist,  for 
he  is  never  safe,  whether  he  be  walking  a  country 


22  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

road  or  sitting  quietly  on  the  floor  of  his  home, 
whether  he  be  about  to  bury  his  father  or  to  marry 
his  son.  His  existence  is  simply  one  long  program 
of  buying  off  evil  spirits,  in  some  fashion  or  other. 
Otherwise,  he  may  expect  the  direst  calamities  to 
befall  both  his  family  and  himself.  The  spirits 
will  send  smallpox,  burn  his  house,  steal  his  chil- 
dren, or  even  take  his  life.  One  can  scarcely 
imagine  the  awful  pathos  of  the  situation,  when  a 
man's  daily  existence  is  thus  constantly  obsessed 
by  a  dreadful  fear  of  impending  doom. 

Typical  Korean  Tales 

Korea  is  so  rich  in  fascinating  folklore  that 
from  this  source  we  may  obtain  a  very  good  in- 
sight into  the  general  nature  of  this  type  of  reli- 
gion. Dr.  James  S.  Gale  has  translated  some  of 
the  best  of  these  stories,^  and  thus  has  rendered  a 
splendid  service.  We  select  three  of  the  best  of 
these  tales  for  direct  glimpses  into  the  life  and 
imagination  of  these  childlike  Koreans.  The  first 
is  typical  of  all  animistic  religions,  for  it  deals 
with  tree  spirits.  The  title  is  "The  Mysterious 
Hoi-Tree,"  and  the  author  is  Yi  Ryuk,  who  lived 
in  the  fifteenth  century.    It  runs  as  follows: 

"Prince  Pa  Song's  house  was  situated  just  in- 
side the  great  East  Gate,  and  before  it  was  a  large 
hoi  tree.  On  a  certain  night  the  prince's  son-in- 
law  was  passing  by  the  roadway  that  led  in  front 
of  the  archers'  pavilion.     There  he  saw  a  great 

2  Korean  Folk  Tales. 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  23 

company  of  bowmen,  more  than  he  could  number, 
all  shooting  together  at  a  target.  A  moment  later 
he  saw  them  riding,  some  throwing  spears,  some 
hurhng  bowls,  some  shooting  from  horseback,  so 
that  the  road  in  front  of  the  pavilion  was  blocked 
against  all  comers.  Some  shouted  as  he  came  by: 
'Look  at  that  impudent  rascal!  He  attempts  to 
ride  by  without  dismounting.'  They  caught  him 
and  beat  him,  paying  no  attention  to  his  cries  for 
mercy,  and  having  no  pity  for  the  pain  he  suffered, 
till  one  tall  fellow  came  out  of  their  serried  ranks 
and  said  in  an  angry  voice  to  the  crowd :  *He  is  my 
master.  Why  do  you  treat  him  so.^'  He  undid  his 
bonds,  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  led  him  home. 
When  the  son-in-law  reached  the  gate  he  looked 
back,  and  saw  the  man  walk  under  the  hoi  tree  and 
disappear.  He  then  learned  too  that  all  the  crowd 
of  archers  were  spirits,  and  that  the  tall  one  who 
had  befriended  him  was  a  spirit  too,  and  that 
he  had  come  forth  from  their  particular  hoi 
tree." 

Another  tale  is  one  of  many  that  reveal  the 
strong  fear  element  in  this  primitive  form  of  wor- 
ship. The  story-teller  in  this  case  is  Im  Bang,  the 
son  of  a  Korean  governor.  He  was  born  in  1640 
and  himself  became  governor  of  Seoul  in  1719, 
when  he  was  in  his  eightieth  year.  "The  Fearless 
Captain"  illustrates  the  universal  conflict  between 
reason  and  superstition: 

"There  was  formerly  a  soldier,  Yee  Man-ji  of 
Yong-nam,   a  strong   and   muscular  fellow,   and 


a4  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

brave  as  a  lion.  He  had  green  eyes  and  a  terrible 
countenance.  Frequently  he  said,  'Fear !  What  is 
fear?'  On  a  certain  day  when  he  was  in  his  house 
a  sudden  storm  of  rain  came  on,  when  there  were 
flashes  of  lightning  and  heavy  claps  of  thunder. 
At  one  of  them  a  great  ball  of  fire  came  tumbling 
into  his  home  and  went  rolling  over  the  veranda, 
through  the  rooms,  into  the  kitchen  and  out  into 
the  yard,  and  again  into  the  servants'  quarters. 
Several  times  it  went  and  came  bouncing  about. 
Its  blazing  light  and  the  accompanying  noise  made 
it  a  thing  of  terror. 

"Yee  sat  in  the  outer  veranda  wholly  undis- 
turbed. He  thought  to  himself,  'I  have  done  no 
wrong,  therefore  why  need  I  fear  the  lightning.^' 
A  moment  later  a  flash  struck  the  large  elm  tree 
in  front  of  the  house  and  smashed  it  to  pieces. 
The  rain  then  ceased  and  the  thunder  likewise. 

"Yee  turned  to  see  how  it  fared  with  his  family, 
and  found  them  all  fallen  senseless.  With  the 
greatest  of  difficulty  he  had  them  restored  to  life. 
During  that  year  they  all  fell  ill  and  died,  and 
Yee  came  to  Seoul  and  became  a  Captain  of  the 
Right  Guard.  Shortly  after  he  went  to  North 
Ham-kyong  Province.  There  he  took  a  second 
wife  and  settled  down.  All  his  predecessors  had 
died  of  goblin  influences,  and  the  fact  that  calam- 
ity had  overtaken  them  while  in  the  official 
quarters  had  caused  them  to  use  one  of  the  vil- 
lage houses  instead. 

"Yee,  however,  determined  to  live  down  all  fear 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  25 

and  go  back  to  the  old  quarters,  which  he  exten- 
sively repaired. 

"One  night  his  wife  was  in  the  inner  room  while 
he  was  alone  in  the  public  office  with  a  light  burn- 
ing before  him.  In  the  second  watch  or  there- 
about, a  strange-looking  object  came  out  of  the 
inner  quarters.  It  looked  like  a  stump  of  a  tree 
wrapped  in  black  sackcloth.  There  was  no  definite 
shape  to  it,  and  it  came  jumping  along  and  sat 
itself  immediately  before  Yee  Man-ji.  Also  two 
other  objects  came  following  in  its  wake,  shaped 
just  like  the  first  one.  The  three  then  sat  in  a  row 
before  Yee,  coming  little  by  little  closer  and  closer 
to  him.  Yee  moved  away  till  he  had  backed  up 
against  the  wall  and  could  go  no  farther.  Then 
he  said:  *Who  are  you,  anyhow;  what  kind  of 
devil,  pray,  that  you  dare  to  push  toward  me  so 
in  my  office .^^  If  you  have  any  complaint  or  mat- 
ter to  set  right,  say  so,  and  I'll  see  to  it.' 

"The  middle  devil  said  in  reply,  T'm  hungry, 
I'm  hungry,  I'm  hungry.' 

"Yee  answered,  *Hungry,  are  you?  Very  well, 
now  just  move  back  and  I'll  have  food  prepared 
for  you  in  abundance.'  He  then  repeated  a  magic 
formula  that  he  had  learned,  and  snapped  his 
fingers.  The  three  devils  seemed  to  be  afraid  of 
this.  Then  Man-ji  suddenly  closed  his  fist  and 
struck  a  blow  at  the  first  devil.  It  dodged,  how- 
ever, most  deftly,  and  he  missed,  but  hit  the  floor 
a  sounding  blow  that  cut  his  hand. 

"Then  they  all  shouted,  'We'll  go,  we'll  go,  since 


26  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

you  treat  guests  thus.'  At  once  they  bundled  out 
of  the  room  and  disappeared. 

"On  the  following  day  he  haa  oxen  killed  and  a 
sacrifice  offered  to  these  devils,  and  they  returned 
no  more. 

"Note. — Men  have  been  killed  by  goblins.  This 
is  not  so  much  due  to  the  fact  that  the  goblins  are 
wicked  as  to  the  fact  that  men  are  afraid  of  them. 
Many  died  in  North  Ham-kyong,  but  those  again 
who  were  brave,  and  clove  them  with  a  knife,  or 
struck  them  down,  lived.  If  they  had  been  afraid, 
they  too  would  have  died." 

"God's  Way,"  a  short  tale  by  Yi  Ryuk,  is  so 
modern  in  its  form  and  philosophy  that  we  almost 
need  to  be  told  that  it  comes  from  an  animistic 
source : 

"In  a  certain  town  there  lived  a  man  of  fierce 
and  ungovernable  disposition,  who  in  moments  of 
anger  used  to  beat  his  mother.  One  day  this 
parent,  thus  beaten,  screamed  out,  *0,  God,  why 
do  you  not  strike  dead  this  wicked  man  who  beats 
his  mother  .f^' 

"The  beating  over,  the  son  thrust  his  sickle 
through  his  belt  and  went  slowly  off  to  the  fields 
where  he  was  engaged  by  a  neighbor  in  reaping 
buckwheat.  The  day  was  fine,  and  the  sky  beau- 
tifully clear.  Suddenly  a  dark  fleck  of  cloud  ap- 
peared in  mid-heaven,  and  a  little  later  all  the 
sky  became  black.  Furious  thunder  followed,  and 
rain  came  on.  The  village  people  looked  out  to- 
ward the  field,  where  the  flashes  of  lightning  were 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  27 

specially  noticeable.  They  seemed  to  see  there  a 
man  with  lifted  sickle  trying  to  ward  them  off. 
When  the  storm  had  cleared  away,  they  went  to 
see,  and  lo,  they  found  the  man  who  had  beaten 
his  mother  struck  dead  and  riven  to  pieces. 

"God  takes  note  of  evildoers  on  this  earth,  and 
deals  with  them  as  they  deserve.  How  greatly 
should  we  fear!" 

Spirits  Great  and  Small 
So  multitudinous  everywhere  in  nature  are 
spirits  like  those  in  these  stories  that  they  even 
cannot  be  well  classified.  However,  there  are  a 
few  leading  types  that  might  be  mentioned.  The 
chief  of  all  spirits  is  Hananim,  the  creator  and  con- 
servator of  the  universe.  His  name  comes  from 
two  Korean  words  meaning  "Great  One."  A  study 
of  the  attributes  of  this  spirit  and  of  the  sayings 
about  him  reveals  a  striking  similarity  between  this 
"Great  One"  and  the  God  of  Christianitv.  In- 
deed,  the  translators  of  the  Bible  found  that  this 
word  conveyed  the  idea  of  our  Supreme  Being 
better  than  any  other  term  in  the  language,  and 
therefore  adopted  it  as  the  Korean  name  for 
"God."  Spirit- worship,  as  we  have  already  indi- 
cated, is  largely  a  religion  of  fear,  and  therefore 
Hananim,  being  a  good  spirit,  does  not  come  in 
for  very  much  attention  from  the  people.  It  is  a 
striking  fact  nevertheless  that  in  the  midst  of  all 
this  superstition  and  fear  a  conception  like  the 
following  should  be  handed  down  through  a  thou- 
sand years  of  Korean  history: 


28  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Flowers  bloom  and  flowers  fall, 

Men  have  hopes  and  men  have  fears. 
All  the  rich  are  not  rich  all. 

Nor  have  the  poor  just  only  tears. 
Men  cannot  pull  you  up  to  heaven. 

Nor  can  they  push  you  down  to  hell, 
God  [Hananim]  rules,  so  hold  your  spirit  even; 

He  is  impartial,  all  is  well.^ 

Another  monster  spirit  is  the  dragon.  He  seems 
to  rule  over  the  colossal  outbreaks  of  nature,  such 
as  terrific  storms,  waterspouts,  etc.  His  favorite 
haunt  is  underneath  the  everlasting  hills.  Some 
of  these  dragons  we  saw  depicted  in  reproductions 
from  paintings  found  on  the  walls  of  ancient  tombs 
in  the  Museum  at  Seoul.  There  were  the  blue 
dragon,  the  red  dragon,  and  the  yellow  dragon. 
As  the  artist  conceived  them  nearly  a  thousand 
years  ago,  when  they  were  painted,  these  monsters 
were  flying  over  the  earth,  breathing  terror  and 
slaughter  as  they  rushed  through  the  air.  Then 
there  are  revengeful  spirits,  ghosts  of  the  dead, 
who  in  the  spirit  world  harbor  their  revenge  and 
come  back  to  earth  to  wreak  their  wrath  upon 
their  enemy.  Loss  of  fortune,  disease,  and  death 
are  signs  of  the  presence  of  these  angry  spirits. 
Fire  spirits  too  abound.  Hence  if  a  house  catches 
fire,  no  one  must  interfere,  but,  rather,  it  must  be 
offered  to  the  god,  that  he  may  be  satisfied  and 
not  burn  other  houses  in  the  village.  The  small- 
pox spirit  also  moves  among  the  people,  and  is 
treated  as  an  "honorable  guest,"  lest  he  should  be 

3  Translation  by  Dr,  J.  S.  Gale. 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  29 

offended  and  go  farther  in  his  deadly  work.  So 
these  poor,  deluded  victims,  paralyzed  with  fear, 
pretend  that  they  are  highly  pleased  that  this 
dreadful  spirit  has  deigned  to  pay  them  a  visit. 
Demon  generals  to  the  number  of  more  than 
eighty  thousand  heading  innumerable  hosts  of 
devil  spirits  also  ride  through  the  air  terrorizing 
the  people.  Tree  spirits,  on  the  other  hand,  ap- 
pear to  be  gracious,  especially  those  of  the  maiden- 
hair fern.  Offerings  are  brought  and  laid  at  the 
roots  of  trees  in  the  hope  that  prayers  may  be 
answered.  Tokgabi  are  elf  like  spirits  that  tease 
men  and  women  in  a  semiserious  fashion  by  jost- 
ling them,  throwing  stones,  pulling  pigtails,  etc. 

Strange  Rites  and  Customs 

Although  these  hundreds  of  thousands  of  spirits 
of  every  possible  kind  thus  influence  all  sides  of 
Korean  life,  still  Shamanism  boasts  no  temples,  no 
priesthood,  no  ritual.  There  are,  of  course,  plenty 
of  shrines,  devil  posts,  and  other  evidences  of 
worship.  Graves  also  become  holy  places,  due  to 
the  combined  teaching  of  Confucianism  and  spirit- 
worship.  We  had  a  good  opportunity  of  seeing 
some  material  expression  of  spirit-worship  during 
our  visit  to  Korea  at  the  tomb  of  Kija,  the  founder 
of  the  country.  Beautifully  located  on  a  hillside 
in  a  grove  about  two  miles  from  the  city  of  Pyen 
Yang  is  this  famous  grave.  In  the  foreground  of 
the  inclosure  there  stands  a  splendid  stone  lantern, 
just  back  of  which  is  a  table  of  the  same  material. 


30  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

upon  which  the  worshipers  place  food  and  drink 
for  their  departed  ancestor,  while  in  a  semicircle 
about  the  altar  stand  a  number  of  images  of 
animals,  the  guardian  spirits  of  the  departed,  for 
the  Korean  believes  that  every  man  has  three 
souls,  and  that  at  death  one  of  these  goes  to  Hades 
or  wanders  about  on  earth,  another  takes  up  its 
residence  in  the  ancestor  tablet  carefully  preserved 
in  the  home  of  his  descendants,  while  the  third 
soul  goes  into  the  grave  and  abides  there.  While 
there  are  no  regularly  ordained  priests  in  connec- 
tion with  spirit-worship,  we  find  a  vast  number  of 
magicians,  geomancers,  exorcists,  and  other  inter- 
preters of  the  spirit  world  organized  loosely  into 
guilds  with  certain  rules  and  requirements  as  to 
the  study  of  magic  and  the  nature  of  spirits. 
Among  these  shamans  two  classes  are  especially 
powerful — the  mutangs  and  the  pansus.  The 
mutangs  are  always  women  of  a  low  type,  in 
close  league  with  the  world  of  evil  spirits.  For 
a  consideration  they  will  persuade  the  spirits  to 
desist  from  their  pernicious  work.  The  pansus 
are  blind,  and  control  the  under- world  of  evil  by 
means  of  force.  As  might  be  supposed,  festival, 
wedding,  and  funeral  occasions  are  the  times  when 
these  persons  reap  their  richest  harvests,  for  these 
events  are  outstanding  opportunities  for  the  ma- 
licious spirits  to  get  in  their  disastrous  work.  A 
unique  example  of  the  professional  service  of  the 
mutangs  is  the  custom  of  selling  a  boy  to  a  demon. 
The  ceremony  takes  place  at  some  sacred  spot 


I 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  31 

and  is  conducted  with  strange  rites  and  sacrifices 
which  continue  at  regular  intervals  after  the  sale 
is  actually  completed.  The  demon's  name  is  then 
assumed  by  the  boy  and  in  consideration  of  this 
ceremony  of  sale  he  is  supposed  to  receive  unusual 
protection  and  assistance  during  the  rest  of  his 
lifetime.  Something  of  the  extent  and  importance 
of  these  superstitions  in  the  life  of  the  people  can 
be  gathered  from  the  tremendous  cost  of  spirit- 
worship.  Mrs.  Isabella  B.  Bishop,  in  Korea  and 
Her  Neighbors,  estimates  that  the  fees  of  the 
shamans  alone  amount  to  two  and  a  half  million 
dollars  annually. 

Funeral  Ceremonies 

Shamanism  is  best  studied  and  understood  in 
those  matters  which  have  to  do  with  death, 
rather  than  in  the  events  and  experiences  of  life 
itself.  Its  teachings  are  revealed  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage about  the  deathbed,  in  the  preparation 
for  burial,  in  the  funeral  ceremonies,  the  selection 
of  the  grave,  and  the  worship  that  afterward  goes 
on  at  this  shrine.  The  influence  of  ancient  ancestor- 
worship  is,  of  course,  strong  at  this  point,  and  then, 
too,  here  is  the  place  where  the  present  world 
touches  the  vast  unseen  universe  of  spirits.  There- 
fore we  can  easily  understand  how  the  doctrines 
of  spirit-worship  are  so  clearly  revealed  in  the 
presence  of  the  great  mystery. 

As  soon  as  a  man  dies  three  bowls  of  rice  and 
three  pairs  of  shoes  are  prepared  and  taken  to  some 


32  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

selected  spot  as  an  offering  to  the  spirits  This 
equipment  is  intended  for  the  departed  and  his 
two  spirit  guardians  who  have  the  long  trip  to 
make  into  the  world  beyond.  Then  a  sorcerer  is 
called  in  to  determine  the  lucky  day  for  the 
funeral,  and  a  geomancer  to  select  a  lucky  burial 
place.  The  mourning  clothes  of  ragged,  patched 
sackcloth  are  donned,  and  the  uncanny  wailing 
for  the  dead  begins.  So  full  of  fear  are  the  people 
that  everything  about  the  funeral  must  be  carried 
on  with  the  strictest  care,  lest  the  evil  spirits  be 
offended.  We  had  to  bargain  with  an  undertaker 
for  an  hour  to  secure  some  material  having  to  do 
with  funerals,  for  exhibit  purposes,  and  then,  be- 
cause of  the  peculiar  sacredness  of  the  decorations, 
were  compelled  to  pay  at  least  five  times  their 
intrinsic  value  to  secure  them.  The  body  of  the 
dead  in  preparation  for  burial  is  wrapped  in  straw 
and  placed  on  a  gaudy  bier  carved  with  hideous 
faces  to  scare  away  the  evil  spirits.  In  the  funeral 
procession  there  are  first  the  torch-bearers,  then 
the  spirit-chair,  in  which  is  carried  the  ancestral 
tablet,  the  receptacle  of  one  of  the  departed's 
spirits,  followed  by  the  bearers  with  the  corpse. 
Afterward  come  the  chief  mourners,  relatives, 
and  friends,  with  the  exception  of  women,  who 
are  not  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  ceremony. 
The  grave  is  generally  finely  located  on  some 
beautiful,  sunny  hillside.  In  life  a  dark,  malarial 
valley  is  good  enough,  for  in  such  places  many  of 
the  villages  are  located,  but  in  death  the  best 


FUNERAL  CHAIR   WITH  THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  DEPARTED 


THE    GRAVE    OF    KIJA,    FOUNDER    OF    KOREA 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  33 

must  be  provided.  After  burial  the  grave  becomes 
a  shrine  where  the  son  must  frequently  come  to 
see  that  his  father's  bones  are  undisturbed,  to 
bring  offerings  of  rice,  and  to  seek  in  every  way 
to  make  the  departed  comfortable  especially  by 
warding  off  evil  spirits. 

Spirit  Worship  and  Christianity 

Korea  presents  a  unique  opportunity  for  a  com- 
parison of  Christianity,  the  most  highly  developed, 
with  spirit-worship,  the  least  systematic  of  all 
religions.  Probably  nowhere  else  in  the  world  has 
the  Christian  missionary  effort  met  with  such 
immediate  success  as  in  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  for 
within  the  period  of  thirty-one  years,  the  life  of 
organized  Christian  activity  in  this  land,  nearly 
two  hundred  thousand  followers  have  been  en- 
listed. This  fact  is  due  no  doubt  to  the  sudden 
awakening  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  the  value 
of  Western  civilization,  to  a  belief  that  Christian- 
ity might  bring  some  kind  of  magical  relief  for 
bad  social  conditions,  and  to  the  ancient  and 
prevalent  respect  for  scholarship,  met  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  Christian  schools  and  colleges.  But 
to  a  still  greater  extent  the  warm  reception  ac- 
corded to  the  great  Western  religion  grew  out  of 
the  numerous  points  of  contact  between  the 
Korean  faith  and  that  of  the  missionaries.  To 
begin  with,  the  fundamental  fact  that  spirit- 
worship  so  strongly  emphasizes  the  reality  of  the 
unseen  world,  makes  it  peculiarly  hospitable  to 


34  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  highly  spiritual  teachings  of  Christian  mis- 
sionaries. It  is  a  great  victory  at  the  very  start 
to  have  to  deal  with  a  spiritually  rather  than  a 
materialistically  inclined  people,  and  whatever  may 
be  said  as  to  the  peculiar  developments  of  the 
animistic  faith,  this  essential  conviction  as  to  the 
reality  of  spiritual  things  is  identical  in  both  reli- 
gions. Add  to  this  consideration  and  as  an  out- 
growth from  it  the  belief  in  prayer  and  the 
tremendous  earnestness  manifested  in  its  practice 
on  the  part  of  these  spirit  worshipers,  and  another 
important  point  of  contact  emerges.  But  of  even 
more  importance  in  this  connection  is  the  relatively 
lofty  conception  of  God  which  characterizes  not 
only  the  original  faith  of  the  Koreans,  but  even 
the  Buddhism  and  the  Confucianism  of  the  Penin- 
sula. In  spite  of  the  mass  of  superstitions  and 
the  myriads  of  bad  spirits  that  control  the  life  of 
the  people,  they  have  preserved  in  a  most  striking 
fashion  a  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God,  and,  more- 
over, there  runs  through  the  crude  notions  as  to 
his  nature  and  relationship  to  mankind  a  series  of 
most  worthy  conceptions.  Even  the  very  physical 
environment  of  the  land  is  favorable  to  its  Chris- 
tianization,  for  it  is  said  that  Korea  is  Palestine 
over  again.  The  customs  of  the  people  too  are, 
of  course.  Oriental  and  approximate  in  a  high 
degree  those  of  the  Holy  Land.  With  such  simi- 
larities in  fundamental  beliefs  and  in  a  setting  so 
like  that  in  which  the  Bible  was  written,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  Scripture  teachings  take  on  a  peculiar 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  35 

realism  in  Korea.  There  is  here  a  vividness  about 
the  impression  of  the  gospel  message  entirely  un- 
known among  Western  peoples.  For  example,  one 
day  a  native  preacher  was  reading  the  story  of  the 
good  Samaritan  to  his  congregation  when  suddenly 
a  man  all  absorbed  in  the  tale  cried  out  in  excite- 
ment, "What  was  his  name?"  Dr.  George  Heber 
Jones  relates  the  following  incident  which  further 
illustrates  this  earnest  attitude  toward  Bible 
teachings : 

"A  Korean  came  into  the  study  of  a  missionary 
one  day  and  said,  T  have  been  memorizing  some 
verses  in  the  Bible,  and  thought  I  w^ould  come  and 
recite  them  to  you.'  The  missionary  listened  while 
this  convert  repeated  in  Korean,  without  a  verbal 
error,  the  entire  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Feeling 
that  some  practical  advice  might  be  helpful,  the 
missionary  said:  'You  have  a  marvelous  memory 
to  be  able  to  repeat  this  long  passage  without  a 
mistake.  However,  if  you  simply  memorize  it,  it 
will  do  you  no  good.  You  must  practice  it.'  The 
Korean  Christian  smiled  as  he  replied,  'That's  the 
way  I  learned  it.'  Somew^hat  surprised,  the  mis- 
sionary asked  him  what  he  meant,  and  he  said :  T 
am  only  a  stupid  farmer,  and  when  I  tried  to 
memorize  it  the  verses  wouldn't  stick.  So  I  hit 
upon  this  plan.  I  memorized  one  verse  and  then 
went  out  and  practiced  that  verse  on  my  neighbors 
until  I  had  it;  then  I  took  the  next  verse  and  re- 
peated the  process,  and  the  experience  has  been 
such  a  blessed  one  that  I  am  determined  to  learn 


S6  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  entire  Gospel  of  Matthew  that  way.'    And  he 
did  it."* 

The  Outlook  for  Christianity  in  Korea 

The  short  history  of  Christianity  in  Korea, 
therefore,  has  been  marked  by  many  manifesta- 
tions of  the  most  rapid  progress  and  immediate 
success.  The  wholesale  revivals,  the  record-break- 
ing attendances  at  the  prayer  services,  the  nu- 
merous public  confessions  of  terrible  sins  and 
crimes,  and  the  exceptional  zeal  for  Bible  study 
remind  one  of  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  and 
seem  to  foretell  a  complete  evangelization  of  the 
land  in  the  near  future.  There  are,  however, 
other  important  elements  entering  into  the  situa- 
tion. These  also  demand  careful  consideration  in 
any  estimate  of  the  religious  future  of  Korea. 
Centuries  of  a  religion  of  fear  have  made  their 
deep  impression,  and  therefore  the  preaching  and 
teaching  which  is  now  carried  on  under  Christian 
auspices  should  be  so  shaped  as  to  prevent  the 
transference  of  this  burden  of  superstition  and 
fear  to  the  new  faith.  That  such  an  attitude 
toward  life  may  be  fostered  along  with  gospel 
teachings  is  abundantly  evidenced  in  the  religious 
history  of  older  Christian  countries.  Again,  a 
narrow  and  mechanical  interpretation  of  the  Bible 
such  as  has  characterized  Korean  evangelistic  ef- 
forts in   a  few  instances   will   issue  in  ultimate 

*  Pamphlet:  The  Korean  Mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 


KOREA— SPIRIT  LAND  37 

disappointment  so  far  as  the  vital  triumph  of 
Christianity  is  concerned.  As  in  the  case  of  chil- 
dren, the  response  of  these  animists  to  the  new 
teaching  is  characterized  by  the  strictest  Hteral- 
ness.  Christian  missionaries,  therefore,  must  lead 
them  with  infinite  pains  and  tact  from  the  formal 
statement  into  the  deeper  meaning  of  scriptural 
truths.  There  is  likewise  another  danger  that 
besets  the  Christian  faith,  even  in  more  highly 
developed  countries,  and  threatens  to  influence  its 
course  in  Korea  as  well.  It  is  the  false  mysticism 
of  primitive  religious  development.  Visions,  di- 
rect revelations,  demon-possession,  and  like  mani- 
festations characterize  spirit-worship,  and  we  find 
these  same  things  gaining  some  control  even  in 
the  Christian  order.  Whatever  may  be  the  mean- 
ing and  value  of  such  phenomena,  it  is  always 
safe  to  say  that  their  place  should  never  be  one 
of  prominence,  and  that  the  main  emphasis  in 
Christian  teaching  must  always  be  placed  on 
friendship  with  God,  high  ethical  ideals,  and  sin- 
cere service.  If  Korean  Christian  development  is 
to  follow  these  lines,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance 
that  the  very  best  missionary  leadership  should  be 
enlisted,  and  that  the  splendid  educational  system 
already  organized  in  this  important  field  should  be 
carefully  fostered.  Thus  only  can  be  fulfilled  the 
prophecy  of  missionary  statesmen,  that  out  of 
Korea  is  destined  to  come  the  Christian  leadership 
of  the  Far  East. 


38  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  ANIMISM  AND 
KOREAN  SHAMANISM 

Introduction  to  the  Philosophy  of  Rehgion :  John  Caird. 

Introduction  to  the  History  of  Rehgion:  F.  B.  Jevons. 

Paradise  Found:  W.  F.  Warren. 

Elements  of  the  Science  of  Religion:  C.  P.  Tiele. 

The  Childhood  of  Religions :  Edward  Clodd. 

Custom  and  Myth:  Andrew  Lang. 

Fetishism  and  Magic:  A.  C.  Haddon. 

Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples:  D.  G.  Brinton. 

The  Passing  of  Korea:  H.  B.  Hulbert. 

Korea  and  Her  Neighbors :  Isabella  L.  B.  Bishop. 

Korea  in  Transition:  James  S.  Gale. 

Korean  Folk  Tales:  James  S.  Gale. 

Korea:  Fact  and  Fancy:  H.  N.  Allen. 

The  Call  of  Korea:  H.  G.  Underwood. 

Fifteen   Years   Among   the   Top-Knots:   Mrs.    L.    H. 

Underwood. 
Village  Life  in  Korea:  J.  R.  Moose. 
Ewa:  A  Tale  of  Korea:  W.  A.  Noble. 


CHAPTER  II 
FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP 


Recompense  injury  with  kindness. — Laotsze. 

Do  not  do  unto  others  what  thou  wouldst  not  they 
should  do  unto  thee. — Confucius. 


CHAPTER  II 

FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP 

In  the  heart  of  the  Chinese  province  of  Shan- 
tung is  the  city  of  Taian,  and  looming  up  into  the 
very  clouds  just  back  of  the  city  is  sacred  Tai 
Shan,  the  oldest  place  of  worship  in  the  world, 
for  on  the  summit  of  this  mountain  men  have 
prayed  continuously  since  before  the  days  of 
Abraham.  Thus  does  the  religious  life  of  China 
stretch  back  across  the  ages  and  root  deep  into 
the  hoary  past.  So  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the 
people  of  this  ancient  land  have  worshiped  for 
more  than  half  a  century  of  centuries.  China  is 
blessed  with  many  forms  of  religion  to-day,  but 
if  one  would  find  the  essential  character  of  the 
ancient  faith,  he  must  seek  it  in  the  key- word 
*'Tao,"  meaning  "road,"  or  "way,"  for  wrapped 
up  in  this  one  word  is  the  great  central  doctrine 
of  conformity  to  the  order  of  nature.  This  in 
essence  is  the  worship  of  Heaven,  and  as  man 
shapes  his  thought  and  action  in  accordance  with 
this  "way,"  happiness  becomes  his  inheritance. 
But  let  him  depart  from  it,  and  nothing  can  save 
him  from  fatal  disaster.  This  is  the  faith  that 
permeates  China,  and  out  of  such  fundamental 
teaching  have  grown  all  the  ethical  principles, 
rules  of  conduct,  and  methods  of  worship.  Of 
course  animistic  elements  abound  in  this  ancient 

41 


42  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

belief.     There  are  tree  spirits,  mountain  spirits, 
demons,  and  a  large  variety  of  household  gods, 
as  well  as  thousands  of  fanciful  legends  and  mul- 
titudinous superstitions,  but  it  is  a  great  step  in 
advance  over  spirit-worshiping  religious  cults  to 
find  in  early  Taoism  a  conception,  though  crude, 
of  law  and  order.     Passing  over  Buddhism  and 
Mohammedanism  as  imported  faiths,  the  vitality 
of  which,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  former,  has 
depended  upon  the  possession  of  universistic  prin- 
ciples, we  find  that  the  early  unsystematized  and 
half-defined   Taoism    of    China   moves   with   the 
passing  of  the  years  in  a  divided  stream  of  inter- 
pretation.    One  of  these  is  a  formulated  Taoism, 
of   which   Laotsze   may   be   considered   the   real 
founder.    The  other  is  the  ethical  system  of  Con- 
fucius.    These  two  great  prophets  of  the  Chinese 
religion  were  contemporaries,  but  their  views  were 
quite  diverse.     Laotsze  was  of  a  philosophic  cast 
of  mind  and  meditated  in  seclusion  upon  the  great 
problems   and   mysteries   of   the  universe,   while 
Confucius  was  of  a  very  practical  turn  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  formulation  of  ethical  prin- 
ciples.    And  yet  ancient  Taoism  colors  and  in- 
fluences the  work  of  each. 

The  Teachings  of  Laotsze 

Laotsze's  teachings  were  of  such  a  mystical  type 
that  even  Confucius  himself  after  visiting  him 
confessed  that  he  could  not  understand  his  doc- 
trine.    It  has  been  said,  however,  that  Laotsze 


THE     SOTTH     GATE     OF     HEAVEN     OX     TAI     SHAN 


-•^  5grt»«p*' 


THE    OLDEST    PLACE    OF    WORSHIP    IX    THE    WORLD 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       4fB 

believed  in  God.     If  so,  his  conception  was  ex- 
tremely abstract,  corresponding  somewhat  to  the 
capitalized  "Force"  of  the  scientists.    But  he  did 
hold  to  a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and 
taught  that  it  was  a  state  to  be  earnestly  sought 
by  the  practice  of  virtue  and  the  cultivation  of 
longevity.    It  is  also  contended  by  some  scholars 
of  repute  that  the  germ  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  is  to  be  found  in  Taoist  teachings,  but 
this  is  by  no  means  clear,  for  the  view  depends 
upon  a  somewhat  fanciful  interpretation.     Salva- 
tion,  Laotsze  believed,   consisted  in  getting  the 
heart  right  by  a  process  of  ascetic  practice  and  a 
loss  of  self  in  the  Tao,  as  against  any  reformation 
by  ethical  precepts  and  formal  legislation.     The 
gods  of  Taoism  are  many,  due  to  the  animistic 
influence  of  this  nature-worship.    The  Tao  idea  is 
hard  to  define,  but  seems  to  correspond  in  some 
measure  in  the  development  of  its  meaning  to  our 
term  "Absolute."    Heaven  and  Earth,  in  a  sense 
personified,  are  considered  to  be  the  offsprings  of 
this  Tao,  and  are,  therefore,  most  important  ob- 
jects of  worship.     Emperors,  heroes,  and  other 
outstanding    personalities    after    death    also    are 
raised  to  the  Taoist  pantheon.     Finally  a  multi- 
tude of  local  deities,  spirits,  and  demons  put  the 
number  of  Chinese  gods  almost  beyond  computa- 
tion.   In  the  Taoism  of  to-day,  therefore,  we  find 
a  great  hierarchy  of  priests  and  priestesses  acting 
as  intermediaries  between  the  people  and  these 
numerous  gods   and  claiming  power  to  exorcise 


44  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

evil  spirits  and  avert  disaster.  Thus  these  leaders 
play  upon  the  fears  and  superstitions  of  the  peo- 
ple and  exercise  a  tremendous  influence  throughout 
the  nation. 

China's  Greatest  Teacher 

Turning  now  from  Laotsze's  interpretation  of 
ancient  Taoism,  we  find  in  Confucianism  a  second 
mighty  religious  influence,  although  the  system 
really  is  not  a  religion  at  all,  but  a  code  of  ethical 
teachings.  Confucius  was  fundamentally  agnostic 
as  to  the  existence  of  a  God  and  life  eternal,  but 
constantly  emphasized  the  importance  of  right- 
eousness in  the  life  that  now  is.  His  career  was  a 
mixed  one.  Born  in  the  year  B.  C.  551,  things 
were  in  the  same  state  of  uncertainty  that  char- 
acterizes the  China  of  to-day.  Political  intrigue 
and  plottings  permeated  the  land.  There  were 
also  revolutions  among  the  states,  and  the  Chou 
Dynasty  was  tottering.  His  father  was  a  military 
oflScer  and  traced  his  descent  from  the  royal  house 
of  Yin.  In  this  atmosphere  of  political  and  mili- 
tary life  the  Great  Teacher  began  his  career  and 
we,  therefore,  are  not  surprised  that,  in  addition 
to  his  great  lifework  of  teaching,  he  also  held  such 
positions  as  keeper  of  the  granary,  superintendent 
of  public  fields,  governor  of  his  town,  and  chief 
criminal  judge.  For  a  number  of  years  Confucius 
wandered  from  place  to  place  studying  and  eluci- 
dating his  ethical  principles,  and  gathering  dis- 
ciples.    Of  his  writings  the  most  important  are  a 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       45 

Book  of  History,  and  Spring  and  Autumn.  The 
latter  is  a  history  of  his  own  state  of  Lu.  The 
famous  Sayings  of  Confucius,  however,  were  prob- 
ably remembered  and  gathered  together  by  his 
disciples  decades  after  his  death  which  took  place 
in  his  seventy-second  year.  Something  of  the 
greatness  and  keen  ethical  insight  of  the  man  is 
well  reflected  in  the  following  selections  taken 
from  these  collected  sayings,^  all  of  which  are  of  a 
high  order: 

Man  is  born  upright.    If  he  cease  to  be  so,  and  live, 
he  is  lucky  to  escape. 

Listen  much,  keep  silent  when  in  doubt  and  always 
take  heed  of  the  tongue;  thou  wilt  make  few  mistakes. 

Worship  as  though  those  ye  worship  stood  before 
you. 

We  know  not  life;  how  can  we  know  death? 

As  long  as  his  father  liv^s,  a  son  should  study  his 
wishes;  after  he  is  dead  he  should  study  his  life. 

The  fault  is  to  cleave  to  a  fault. 

A  man  and  his  faults  are  of  a  piece. 

Honeyed  words  and  flattering  looks  seldom  speak  of 
love. 

The  chase  of  gain  is  rich  in  hate. 

A  heart  set  on  love  will  do  no  wrong. 

A  man  without  love,  what  is  courtesy  to  him? 

To  rank  the  effort  above  the  prize  may  be  called  love. 

Who  contains  himself  seldom  goes  wrong. 

Make  faithfulness  and  truth  thy  masters. 

Will  the  right;  hold  to  good  won;  rest  in  love;  move 
in  art. 

Living  on  coarse  rice  and  water,  with  bent  arm  for 
pillow,  mirth  may  be  ours;  but  ill-gotten  wealth  and 
honors  are  to  me  a  wandering  cloud. 

*  The  Sayings  of  Confucius,  translated  by  Leonard  A.  Lyall. 


46  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

A  gentleman  has  nine  aims:  to  see  clearly,  to  under- 
stand what  he  hears,  to  be  warm  in  manner,  dignified 
in  bearing,  faithful  in  speech,  painstaking  at  work,  to 
ask  when  in  doubt,  in  anger  to  think  of  difficulties,  in 
sight  of  gain  to  remember  right. 

Tzu  Kung  asked:  "Can  one  word  cover  the  whole 
duty  of  man?" 

The  Master  replied:  "Fellow-feeling,  perhaps.  Do 
not  do  unto  others  what  thou  wouldst  not  they  should 
do  unto  thee." 

The  Home  Town  of  Confucius 

The  province  of  Shantung  is  known  as  the 
"Holy  Land  of  China,"  for  out  of  this  region  have 
come  persons  and  influences  that  have  shaped  the 
religious  life  of  all  China  for  a  period  of  fully  five 
thousand  years.  It  was  in  this  province  that 
Confucius  was  born  and  died.  Mencius  also  lived 
in  a  town  only  a  few  miles  from  the  home  of  Con- 
fucius. Many  of  the  sacred  books  were  produced 
here.  The  Tung  Yoh,  also  called  Tai  Shan,  the 
"Greatest  Mountain,"  said  to  be  the  most  sacred 
spot  in  all  China,  looms  up  with  its  beautiful 
South  Gate  of  Heaven  in  the  midst  of  this  same 
old  Province  of  Shantung. 

Early  one  morning  we  started  by  train  on  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  grave  of  the  Great  Sage,  com- 
pleting the  last  six  miles  of  the  journey  in  a 
wheelbarrow  over  the  roughest  of  country  paths. 
Just  as  the  morning  light  was  breaking  over  the 
fields  of  green  wheat  we  saw  in  the  distance  the 
walls  of  Chu  Fu,  where  nearly  twenty -five  hundred 
years  ago  this  remarkable  teacher  tried  to  point 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       47 

out  the  way  of  wisdom  to  his  dull  fellow  towns- 
men. To-day  the  town  is  largely  under  the 
control  of  a  lineal  descendant  of  Confucius,  who 
traces  his  relationship  back  through  more  than 
seventy  generations.  From  all  accounts,  however, 
the  kinship  is  one  merely  of  physical  ties,  for  the 
Duke  does  not  seem  to  observe  very  strictly  the 
precepts  of  his  great  ancestor. 

The  moment  one  enters  the  gate  of  Chu  Fu 
he  literally  feels  the  atmosphere  of  the  distant 
past.  The  crumbling  walls  and  the  ancient 
archway  silently  speak  of  bygone  centuries. 
The  narrow  streets,  the  rough  pavements,  the 
decaying  shop  buildings,  are  mute  witnesses  tell- 
ing the  story  of  another  age.  The  groups  of 
idlers,  some  of  them  dozing  in  the  broken-down 
doorways,  add  their  touch  to  the  scene,  while  a 
funeral  procession  with  its  noisy  mourners  follow- 
ing a  huge  wooden  coffin,  completes  the  picture. 
Down  this  same  street  with  these  same  cries 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago  they  bore 
China's  greatest  prophet  to  his  last  resting  place. 
The  whole  impression  of  antiquity  is  intensified 
as  one  enters  the  great  gate  of  the  burial  ground. 
First  he  must  walk  down  a  long  walled  lane  to 
another  gate,  through  which  he  passes  into  a 
beautiful  grove  of  ancient  cedars  planted  about 
the  time  Columbus  discovered  America.  As 
the  breezes  blow  through  the  branches  of  these 
trees  the  melancholy  moaning  seems  almost  to 
shape  itself  into  the  song  of  Ecclesiastes,  "Vanity 


48  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  vanities,  all  is  vanity."  From  the  grove  we 
continued  our  walk  under  another  archway  and 
across  a  stone  bridge  to  the  third  and  last  gate- 
way. Here  an  old  man  volunteered  to  guide  us 
to  the  famous  grave.  On  the  way  he  showed  us 
a  decaying  stump  carefully  boxed  in  with  thick 
walls  of  brick.  This,  he  said,  was  the  last  remains 
of  a  tree  planted  by  the  disciples  of  Confucius 
at  the  time  of  his  burial!  Farther  on  we  passed 
numerous  shrines  erected  by  prominent  scholars 
as  memorials  to  themselves.  Then  we  came  to 
the  grave  of  the  grandson  of  Confucius,  and 
finally  to  another  marked  with  a  plain  tablet 
which  tells  us  that  here  the  '^honorable  teacher" 
lies  buried.  There  is  nothing  elaborate  about 
the  tomb.  The  tablet,  an  urn,  and  the  mound 
in  the  background — this  is  all;  but  here  lies  one 
of  the  world's  greatest  teachers,  the  founder  of 
a  system  that  has  influenced  uncounted  millions 
of  human  beings  for  seventy-five  generations. 
As  we  waited  meditating  on  the  life  and  influence 
of  this  great  man,  our  old  guide  brought  us  a 
pot  of  hot  tea,  for  it  was  now  breakfast  time. 
He  too  traces  his  ancestry  back  through  the 
centuries  directly  to  one  of  Confucius's  own 
servants. 

From  the  grave  we  made  our  way  to  the  great 
Temple  of  Confucius,  a  mile  or  two  distant  from 
the  burial  ground.  This  place  too  is  full  of  in- 
terest, for  here  the  old  well  and  the  site  of  the 
home  of  the  Sage  are  to  be  seen.     Before  the 


THE    GRAVE    OF    CONFUCIUS 


MARBLE    PILLARS,     TEMPLE    OF    CONFUCIUS 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       49 

main  temple  is  a  magnificent  row  of  marble  pil- 
lars with  carvings  three  inches  deep.  These  are 
outstanding  works  of  art  unsurpassed  anywhere 
in  the  world.  In  another  temple  hall  is  a  series 
of  more  than  a  hundred  etchings  in  marble  illus- 
trating incidents  in  the  life  of  the  Great  Teacher. 
These  tablets  were  placed  here  during  the  life- 
time of  Confucius  and  are  much  prized  by  the 
Chinese  people,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  pictures  are  worn  quite  smooth 
through  the  oft-repeated  process  of  obtaining 
"rubbings,"  or  paper  transfers  in  ink.  In  some 
cases  there  are  only  left  faint  traces  of  the  original 
lines  cut  nearly  twenty -five  hundred  years  ago. 
There  are  several  other  halls  in  the  temple  in- 
closure  to  the  wife,  father,  mother,  and  other 
relatives,  and  ancestors  of  Confucius,  and  it  is 
said,  with  good  reason,  that  more  care  is  exer- 
cised in  preserving  these  buildings  and  grounds 
than  appears  in  the  case  of  any  other  sacred 
place  in  China. 

Ancestor- Worship  in  Canton 

Ancestor-worship  thus  illustrated  in  the  city 
of  Chu  Fu  in  the  case  of  the  Great  Teacher,  him- 
self, is  the  most  important  and  universal  doctrine 
of  Confucianism,  for  everywhere  in  China  one 
finds  evidence  of  its  far-reaching  influence  upon 
the  life  of  the  people.  In  Canton,  for  example, 
is  located  the  great  Chun  Ka  Chil,  a  magnificent 
stone    structure    devoted    entirely    to    ancestor- 


50  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

worship.  This  temple  was  built  by  members  of 
the  wealthy  Chun  clan,  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial families  in  China,  and  contains  thousands  of 
ancestor  tablets.  Our  guide  told  us  that  these 
record  the  genealogy  of  over  sixty  generations. 
Most  of  the  tablets  were  beautifully  gilded  in 
memory  of  the  departed  members  of  the  clan, 
but  some  were  painted  pure  white  to  represent 
persons  still  living.  Twice  every  year  the  members 
of  this  great  clan  come  to  the  Chun  Ka  Chil 
for  a  day  of  ancestor  worship,  and  throughout 
the  entire  year  it  is  visited  daily  by  devout  trav- 
elers. In  this  ancient  metropolis  we  also  visited 
the  curious  City  of  the  Dead.  It  is  a  real  "city," 
for  there  are  streets  and  strange  little  houses  in 
which  repose  the  dead  waiting  for  the  proper 
lucky  day  of  burial.  The  visitor  may  enter  these 
silent  houses  with  his  gifts  and  pay  his  respects 
to  the  spirits  of  the  departed.  Around  the  huge 
coffins  are  to  be  found  offerings  of  every  descrip- 
tion. Besides  food,  other  articles  such  as  clothing, 
hats,  and  shoes,  are  brought  to  add  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  deceased  in  his  journey  to  the  Beyond, 
and  to  provide  for  his  well-being  in  his  new  abode. 
In  one  of  these  little  houses  we  saw  a  miniature 
gold  mine  made  of  gilded  paper,  indicating  that 
the  donor  hoped  to  insure  the  financial  prosperity 
of  his  relative  in  the  other  world.  We  also  stood 
before  the  great  coffin  in  which  reposed  the  body 
of  the  late  Governor  Chen  Chung,  of  Kwantung 
Province.     He  died  only  a  few  months  before  our 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       51 

visit,  and  the  numerous  gaudy  banners  hanging 
about  the  room  told  the  story  of  his  attainments 
and  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  Be- 
neath the  coffin  was  a  bowl  of  rice  placed  there 
by  his  relatives  that  he  might  not  go  hungry  in 
the  world  of  spirits. 

The  Holy  Mountain  of  China 

No  traveler  in  China  can  afford  to  omit  a 
trip  to  sacred  Tai  Shan,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  Thousands  of  pilgrims 
visit  this  holy  mountain  every  spring  to  pay  their 
vows  and  to  seek  the  intercession  of  the  Lady 
of  the  Mountain  in  the  fortunes  of  their  everyday 
lives.  It  is  a  long,  hard  trip  by  chair  from  the 
town  of  Taianfu  at  its  base  to  the  South  Gate  of 
Heaven  at  the  summit,  although  the  thousands 
of  indescribably  miserable  beggars  shouting 
"Casha,  Casha,"  at  every  step,  break  the  monot- 
ony and  remind  the  traveler  that  if  he  would 
lay  up  merit,  he  must  fling  at  least  one  coin  to 
each  suppliant.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  ascent,  the  hot  sun,  and  the  beseeching 
beggars,  however,  the  trip  is  well  worth  while, 
not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  splendid  view  of 
the  Chinese  "Land  of  Palestine"  afforded  from 
this  point,  but  also  because  of  the  world-old 
associations  of  the  sacred  summit  itself.  Up 
this  very  ascent  a  hundred  and  ten  years  before 
the  birth  of  Christ  the  Chinese  emperor  of  that 
period  climbed  with  his  retinue  and  performed 


52  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

a  sacrifice  to  Heaven,  During  the  night,  so  the 
record  runs,  there  was  a  Hght  and  a  white  cloud 
hovering  over  the  altar,  and  the  emperor  him- 
self declared  that  out  of  the  cloud  he  heard  a 
voice  speaking  to  him. 

There  are  several  temples  on  these  rocky 
peaks,  each  full  of  interest.  In  one  carefully 
bolted  and  barred  is  a  great  image  of  the  Sacred 
Lady  of  the  Mountain,  at  whose  feet  we  saw, 
through  a  crack  in  the  door,  a  vast  collection 
of  offerings — money,  silver  images,  shoes,  wearing 
apparel,  and  food.  These  offerings  pile  up 
throughout  the  months,  and  once  each  year 
the  Taoist  priests  open  the  doors  and  gather 
the  accumulated  wealth.  Just  in  front  of  another 
temple  on  the  highest  peak  is  a  plain  shaft  of  stone 
some  twelve  feet  in  height  called  the  "Uninscribed 
Tablet,"  a  description  of  which  we  had  read  in 
a  history  of  Shantung  Province  before  making 
this  trip  up  the  mountain.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
erected  at  about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era.  The  famous  tablet,  however,  is  not  strictly 
"uninscribed,"  for  there  is  a  single  Chinese 
character  carved  thereon.  After  hunting  for  some 
time  to  find  this  character  we  consulted  the 
resident  priest  of  the  Taoist  Temple  and  found 
him  in  complete  ignorance  as  to  the  matter. 
Persevering,  however,  in  our  search  we  carefully 
scanned  every  inch  of  the  tablet's  surface  from 
top  to  bottom  and  at  last  were  rewarded  by  find- 
ing  the    Ti  near   its   base.     The  significance   of 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       53 

this  ancient  monument  and  its  mysterious  in- 
scription becomes  apparent  in  the  light  of  the 
words  of  that  high  authority,  Dr.  James  Legge, 
regarding  this  particular  Chinese  ideograph.  He 
says:  ''Ti  has  presented  that  absolute  deity  in 
the  relation  to  men  of  their  lord  and  governor. 
Ti  was  to  the  Chinese  fathers,  I  believe,  exactly 
what  God  was  to  our  fathers,  whenever  they 
took  the  great  name  on  their  lips."^  So  this 
monument  seems  to  reveal  a  conception  of  God 
on  the  part  of  these  ancients  strikingly  similar 
to  the  Christian  idea.  There  are  two  possible 
explanations  in  connection  with  this  strange  in- 
scription. One  is  the  hypothesis  of  Dr.  Legge 
adopted  after  a  most  exhaustive  study  of  the 
history  of  Chinese  words,  "Five  thousand  years 
ago  the  Chinese  were  monotheists — not  henothe- 
ists,  but  monotheists."^  Upon  this  view  it  is 
quite  probable  that  the  little  Ti  tells  the  story 
of  an  early  stage  in  the  development  of  Chinese 
religious  life  when  the  people  had  as  clear  a  con- 
ception of  the  unity  and  personality  of  God  as 
that  held  by  the  Christians  of  to-day.  However, 
there  is  another  possible  explanation  for  the 
presence  of  this  character  on  the  Uninscribed 
Tablet.  In  the  province  of  Shensi  there  was 
discovered  in  the  year  1625  a  great  stone  since 
known  as  the  Nestorian  Monument.  In  1907 
Mr.  Frits  V.  Holm,  a  member  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 

2  The  Religions  of  China,  p,  11. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  16. 


54  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Society,  organized  an  expedition  for  the  purpose, 
if  possible,  of  securing  this  famous  tablet.  He 
spent  much  time  and  money  upon  the  task  and 
engaged  in  well-nigh  endless  negotiations  with  the 
Chinese  for  the  purchase  of  the  stone.  In  the 
end,  however,  he  failed  in  these  efforts  to  buy 
the  original  monument,  but  was  successful  in 
having  an  exact  replica  produced  which  may 
now  be  seen  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  Nestorian  Monu- 
ment, about  whose  genuineness  there  now  can 
be  no  controversy,  tells  the  story  of  a  very  early 
attempt  at  the  Christianization  of  China,  and 
is  of  deep  interest  to  all  concerned  in  Chinese 
missionary  effort.  Nestorian  priests  came  to 
China  about  the  sixth  century  and  began  to  preach 
and  teach  with  such  success  that  Christianity 
in  this  form  flourished  with  the  approval  of  the 
emperors  for  several  centuries.  The  Nestorian 
monument  was  erected  by  these  native  converts 
in  A.  D.  781,  but  the  Chinese  and  Syriac  char- 
acters carved  deeply  on  its  surface  are  still  so 
distinct  that  they  can  be  read  with  ease.  At 
the  top  of  the  tablet  is  a  crude  representation 
of  the  cross,  while  just  below  is  a  long  eulogy 
over  the  "Propagation  of  the  Illustrious  Re- 
ligion in  China."  This  is  ollowed  by  an  "Ode," 
one  stanza  of  which,  from  the  translation  of  Mr. 
A.  Wylie,  we  quote: 

The  true  Lord  is  without  origin,  profound,  invisible, 
and  unchangeable,  with  power  and  capacity  to  perfect 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       55 

and  transform.  He  raised  up  the  earth  and  established 
the  heavens. 

In  view,  then,  of  the  history  of  this  monument 
and  the  content  of  its  inscriptions,  it  may  be 
possible  that  the  Ti  on  the  Uninscribed  Tablet 
in  Shantung  Province  was  also  the  work  of  these 
early  Nestorian  Christians. 

A  Chinese  Hell 
Not  far  from  the  foot  of  Tai  Shan  is  the  Taoist 
Temple  of  Hell,  where  are  portrayed  in  endless 
variety  the  terrible  punishments  which  sinners 
must  endure  in  the  future  world.  Compared 
with  these,  the  Dore  illustrations  of  Dante's 
"Inferno"  are  extremely  mild  presentations.  Nor 
does  it  appear  that  the  artists  have  overlooked 
any  in  the  whole  category  of  sins  known  to  hu- 
manity. Murder,  stealing,  lying,  adultery,  cruelty, 
cheating,  tax-dodging — every  wrong  has  its  dread- 
ful consequences  most  realistically  displayed. 
Among  some  of  the  milder  expressions  of  retribu- 
tion we  noticed  one  poor  sinner  having  his  arm 
torn  out  of  its  socket.  Near  by  was  another 
group  of  images  representing  two  demons  sawing 
asunder  the  body  of  a  criminal.  Another  un- 
fortunate was  crying  out  in  excruciating  agony 
while  a  fiend  bored  into  one  of  his  ears  with 
a  heated  rod.  Farther  on  in  this  journey  through 
Taoist  Inferno  we  came  upon  several  devils 
busy  with  fiendish  deliberation  and  delight  at  the 
task  of  disemboweling  a  poor  victim,  who  was 
represented  as  writhing  in  inexpressible  anguish. 


56  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

As  we  were  about  to  leave  this  dreadful  place 
we  said  to  the  Taoist  priest  in  charge  of  the 
Temple,  "In  the  light  of  all  this,  why  do  not  the 
people  of  Taian  quit  their  sinning?" 

In  reply  he  said  with  a  weary  shake  of  his 
head,  "Ah,  they  are  a  bad  lot." 

In  one  section  of  this  "Hell"  we  found  a  group 
of  three  figures  representing  Confucius,  Buddha, 
and  Laotsze  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  sinners 
in  torment.  Evidently,  their  presence  in  this 
place  represents  some  dim  conception  of  the 
possibility  of  salvation  after  death  and  the  dis- 
ciplinary nature  of  punishment.  That  these 
three  teachers  representing  three  different  religions 
should  all  be  found  together  in  a  Taoist  Hell 
is  not  in  the  least  incongruous,  but,  rather,  quite 
characteristic  of  the  country,  for  the  Chinese 
see  no  inconsistency  in  professing  two  or  even 
three  religions  at  the  same  time.  Consequently, 
we  do  not  find  in  China  the  strife  and  intolerance 
between  followers  of  rival  faiths  that  sometimes 
prevail  in  other  lands.  This  fact  is  due  in  part 
no  doubt  to  the  simplicity  and  indefiniteness 
of  the  doctrine  of  Tao,  which  makes  it  hospitable 
to  worship  in  all  forms,  but  it  is  also  due  to 
the  kinship  assumed  by  the  Chinese  of  Confu- 
cianism, Buddhism,  and  even  Mohammedanism 
and  Christianity,  to  Taoism. 

The  Worship  of  Heaven 
No   one   can   understand   the   religious   life   of 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       57 

China  without  some  knowledge  of  the  close 
relation  of  religion  and  government  that  has 
marked  the  development  of  the  country.  The 
emperor  has  always  been  thought  of  as  the  "Son 
of  Heaven,"  and,  therefore,  the  medium  through 
whom  the  people  were  to  receive  blessings  from 
above.  In  his  representative  capacity  he  becomes 
the  high  priest  of  the  faith,  and  finally  takes 
his  place  among  the  gods  themselves.  A  visitor 
to  the  old  capital  of  Nanking  should  not  fail 
to  see  the  examination  halls  now  almost  in  ruins. 
These  thousands  of  little  booths  tell  the  story 
of  the  old  order  when  Confucianism  was  the 
state  religion  and  a  mastery  of  its  ethical  pre- 
cepts was  necessary  if  one  were  to  secure  a  gov- 
ernment position.  This  old  instinct  that  the 
ruler  of  the  land  must  have  some  unique  connec- 
tion with  the  powers  of  the  universe  still  lives 
even  in  these  days  of  the  Republic. 

Recently  much  has  been  said  and  written 
about  the  revival  of  the  old  state  religion  due 
to  the  visit  of  the  late  President  Yuan  Shih  Kai 
to  the  famous  Temple  of  Heaven  in  Peking. 
The  significance  of  this  visit  has  been  variously 
interpreted.  Some  saw  in  it  a  bona  fide  attempt 
to  revitalize  Universism.  Others  believed  that 
the  pilgrimage  was  made  for  political  purposes, 
especially  to  enlist  the  older  and  more  conserva- 
tive people  with  the  new  government.  In  view 
of  the  recent  abortive  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the   late   president   to   reestablish   the   monarchy 


58  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

and  to  have  himself  elected  emperor,  the  mean- 
ing of  this  ceremony  becomes  quite  apparent. 
It  was  doubtless  intended  to  be  one  of  the  first 
steps  in  preparing  the  people  for  the  contemplated 
reactionary  movement. 

The  Temple  of  Heaven  was  erected  during  the 
Ming  dynasty  (fifteenth  century),  and  in  former 
times  it  was  the  custom  of  the  emperor  to  wor- 
ship there  three  times  each  Chinese  cycle.  On 
the  day  appointed,  with  a  great  retinue  of  fol- 
lowers and  musicians,  he  visited  first  the  Imperial 
Ancestral  Temple,  where  he  worshiped  Shang 
Ti  (Supreme  Ruler)  and  his  own  ancestors,  thence 
he  proceeded  to  the  Sacrificial  Altar,  and  after  a 
brief  tour  of  inspection  finally  returned  to  the 
Palace  of  Abstinence,  where  the  night  was  spent 
in  fasting  and  meditation.  In  the  morning  came 
the  ceremony  proper,  when  on  the  Great  Altar 
in  the  open  air  he  offered  sacrifice  and  uttered 
the  prayer  to  Heaven.  The  Temple  of  Heaven 
is  a  beautiful  circular  building  with  a  roof  of 
finely  enameled  blue  tiles;  but  we  had  to  be 
content  with  the  exterior  view,  for  the  doors  are 
kept  locked  except  during  the  visit  of  the  ruler 
of  the  land.  Near  by  is  the  Altar  of  Heaven, 
consisting  of  three  large  circular  terraces  each 
inclosed  with  a  beautifully  carved  marble  balus- 
trade. It  was  on  the  main  platform  here  that 
Yuan  Shih  Kai  shortly  before  his  death  per- 
formed his  acts  of  worship  in  adoration  of  Heaven, 
after   an   early   morning   trip   in   an   automobile 


I 


THE    TEMPLE    OF    HEAVEN 


A  COUXEU   IX   THK  TEMPLE  OF   HELL 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       59 

from  his  royal  palace.  Subsequently  he  took 
part  in  another  ceremony  and  headed  another 
procession  that  followed  the  same  road  out  of 
the  Tartar  City.  This  time  Yuan  Shih  Kai 
went  not  to  sacrifice  to  Heaven,  but  to  be  laid 
in  his  last  resting  place,  while  his  spirit  sped 
away  to  the  realm  of  the  gods,  for  to-day  in  the 
minds  of  millions  of  conservative  Chinese  the 
modern  president,  Son  of  Heaven,  has  become  a 
god  like  the  emperors  of  old. 

China's  Great  Awakening 

Out  of  the  background  of  all  this  interesting 
past  is  emerging  to-day  the  new  China,  reli- 
giously as  well  as  socially  and  politically.  The 
relatively  superior  conception  of  God,  the  fine 
ethical  ideals,  the  instinct  of  respect  for  an  or- 
derly universe — all  these  and  many  other  good 
characteristics  of  the  old  faith  combine  to  give  a 
peculiarly  favorable  reception  to  Christian  teach- 
ing. And  herein  lies  the  hope  of  China,  for,  in 
spite  of  those  elements  in  her  faith  that  ought 
to  have  spelled  light  and  progress,  she  has  sig- 
nally failed  religiously,  and  therefore  along  other 
lines  of  development  as  well.  Says  that  unbiased 
scholar.  Dr.  J.  J.  M.  de  Groot:  *'The  conclusion 
to  be  drawn  from  the  history  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Taoist  religion  is  that  in  spite  of  the 
sublime  Universistic  principle,  it  has  not  been 
able  to  rise  above  idolatry,  polytheism,  poly- 
demonism,  and  anthropotheism,  but  has,  on  the 


60  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

contrary,  systematically  developed  all  these 
branches  of  the  great  tree  of  Asiatic  paganism. 
The  same  judgment  must  be  pronounced  with 
respect  to  the  branch  of  Universism  which  we 
call  Confucianism."^ 

But  the  modern  awakening  in  China  to  the 
meaning  and  value  of  Christianity  and  its  essen- 
tial superiority  to  other  faiths  is  real  and  sig- 
nificant. The  reception  of  this  Western  religion 
is  not  like  the  easy  tolerance  manifested  toward 
Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism,  nor  merely  a 
polite  acceptance  of  gospel  teachings  because 
of  the  regard  of  the  Chinese  for  the  American 
and  British  nations.  There  is  a  growing  respect 
for  Christianity  and  a  spreading  conviction  that 
it  brings  the  true  solution  of  the  religious,  and, 
by  implication,  of  many  other  problems,  faced 
by  the  Chinese  nation,  as  indicated  in  the  fol- 
lowing cablegram  sent  by  Mr.  E.  T.  Williams, 
charge  d'affaires  of  the  American  Legation  in 
Peking  in  1913. 

Peking,  April  19,  1913. 
Secretary  of  State,  Washington. 

The  following  message  adopted  by  the  Cabinet  was 
sent  yesterday  by  the  Chinese  government  to  the  pro- 
vincial authorities  and  leaders  of  the  Christian  Churches 
in  China:  "Prayer  is  requested  for  the  National  As- 
sembly now  in  session;  for  the  new  government;  for 
the  President  who  is  to  be  elected;  for  the  constitution 
of  the  Republic;  that  the  government  may  be  recog- 
nized by  the  Powers;  that  peace  may  reign  within  our 
country;  that  strong  and  virtuous  men  may  be  elected 

*  Religion  in  China,  p.  189. 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       61 

to  office;  and  that  the  government  may  be  established 
upon  a  strong  foundation.  Upon  receipt  of  this  tele- 
gram you  are  requested  to  notify  all  the  churches  in 
your  Province  that  April  twenty-seventh  has  been  set 
aside  as  a  day  of  prayer  for  the  Nation.  Let  all  take 
part." 

Williams. 

That  this  awakening  is  vital  is  likewise  revealed 
in  the  significant  words  of  Mr.  Teng,  representing 
the  Chinese  minister  of  education  at  the  com- 
mencement exercises  of  one  of  the  leading  Chris- 
tian universities  of  China,  in  June,  1915.  On 
this  occasion,  after  the  diplomas  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  twenty-two  graduates,  we  heard 
him  say,  "Now  we  must  rise  quickly  to  the 
standard  of  Western  civilization."  Elaborating 
the  statement,  he  went  on  to  assert  that  the 
keynote  of  the  success  of  Westerners  lies  in  their 
Christian  morality.  China's  morality,  he  de- 
clared, is  peculiarly  her  own,  while  Christianity 
presents  a  standard  of  morality  of  universal 
application.  Young  men  in  China  to-day  are 
eager  for  Christian  education,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  training  in  English  and  modern  sciences 
afforded  by  missionary  schools  and  colleges,  but 
also  because  they  desire  to  understand  and  real- 
ize the  Christian  program  of  life.  That  Chris- 
tianity does  thus  vitally  attract  the  youth  of 
China  is  again  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  since 
the  foundation  of  Peking  University  (a  mission- 
ary institution),  over  twenty-five  years  ago,  not 
a  single  person  has  been  graduated  who  has  not 


62  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS  • 

professed  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ,   al-  : 
though    these   students   have   never   been   under  ; 
religious  compulsion  and  always  have  been  left 
free  to  choose  their  own  course  in  life.     Mission- 
ary  colleges,   hospitals,   and   professional   schools  i 
are  everywhere  crowded  with  just  such  earnest  ■ 
young  men.     So  along  every  line  of  thought  and  j 
activity   unprejudiced   travelers,   as   well   as   the 
missionaries    themselves,    testify    to    the    cordial  i 
welcome  Christianity  is  receiving  throughout  the  j 
new  Republic  and  the  rapid  progress  it  is  making  \ 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  country.    The  future  ] 
is  involved  in  many  complexities.     The  outcome  j 

I 

of  the  European  war,  the  attitude  of  Japan,  the  | 

internal  conditions  of  China  herself  all  combine  ! 

to  discount  the  value  of  any  prophecy  that  might  i 

be  made.     It  is  conceivable  that  there  might  be  j 

a  reaction  and  a  revival  of  ancient  Taoism  in  i 

some  modified  form.     It  is  likewise  conceivable  j 

that  the  progress  of  Christianity  might  be  greatly 
retarded,  and   that   of   Buddhism   greatly  accel- 
erated, if  China  should  finally  come  under  some  j 
form    of   Japanese   control.      There    is    also    the  i 
possibility  of  the  emergence  of  an  agnostic  and            ' 
materialistic   attitude   toward   religious   problems            < 
under  the  rapid  development  of  commercialism.            I 
The  probability,  however,  is  that  Christian  ideals 
of  life  more  and  more  will  develop  and  control 
the   people   of    China,    especially    if    the    leaders            \ 
of  this  faith  in  the  home  lands  measure  up  to           ; 
the   ever-increasing   opportunities   with   an    ade- 


FIFTY  CENTURIES  OF  WORSHIP       63 

quate  supply  of  men  and  resources  and  continue 
to  work  out  their  propaganda  around  a  worthy 
educational  movement. 

REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  TAOISM 

The  Religious  System  of  China:  J.  J.  M.  de  Groot. 

Religion  in  China:  J.  J.  M.  de  Groot. 

Confucianism  and  Tauism:  R.  K.  Douglas. 

The  Religions  of  China:  James  Legge. 

The  Sacred  Books  of  China:  James  Legge. 

The  Sayings  of  Confucius:  L.  G.  Lyall. 

Religions  of  Ancient  China:  H.  A.  Giles. 

China:   An   Interpretation    (Chapters   VII,   VIII,   IX 

and  X) :  J.  W.  Bashford. 
The  Belief  in  Immortality  and  the  Worship  of  the 

Dead:  J.  G.  Frazer. 
Chinese  Fairy  Stories:  N.  H.  Pitman. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS 


Who  knows  exactly  and  who  shall  in  this  world  declare 
whence  and  why  this  creation  took  place?  The  gods 
are  subsequent  to  the  production  of  this  world,  then 
who  can  know  whence  it  proceeded,  or  whence  this 
varied  world  arose,  or  whether  it  uphold  itself  or  not? 
He  who  in  the  highest  heaven  is  the  ruler  of  this  uni- 
verse does  indeed  know;  but  not  another  one  can  pos- 
sess this  knowledge. — The  Rig-Veda, 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS 

Our  little  party  of  four,  a  Christian  mission- 
ary, his  two  children,  and  the  writer,  started 
very  early  one  morning  by  rail  in  a  third-class 
carriage  for  Hardwar  to  witness  the  great  Hindu 
mela,  which  continues  almost  uninterruptedly 
here  throughout  the  year,  for  it  is  at  this  place 
that  the  holy  Ganges  pours  fresh  from  the 
Himalayas.  It  is  said  that  the  famous  river 
flows  through  the  god  Shiva's  hair  at  its  source 
in  the  mountains,  hence  its  waters  are  very 
sacred  and  especially  so  near  the  springs  them- 
selves. The  train  was  crow^ded  with  the  ghostly 
forms  of  sleeping  pilgrims,  all  seeking  merit  in  a 
visit  to  the  river,  where  they  were  soon  to  engage 
in  earnest  devotions,  washing  away  their  sins 
in  the  sacred  stream.  It  was  still  early  when 
the  guard  called  "Hardwar"  and  we  alighted 
from  the  train.  After  a  hurried  breakfast  in  a 
dak  bungaloiv  we  joined  the  procession  of  pil- 
grims and  marched  down  the  dusty  road  to  the 
river  itself.  Already  hundreds  were  bathing  at 
the  ghats,  the  holy  men  had  taken  up  their  posi- 
tions by  the  roadside,  and  the  Brahman  priests 
were  chanting  their  ritual.  No  one  can  do  justice 
to  a  mela  by  mere  description.  It  needs  to  be 
seen    to    be    adequately    appreciated.      Such    a 

67 


68  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

gathering  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  cross  between 
an  American  county  fair  and  an  old-fashioned 
camp  meeting.  A  mela  is  a  rehgious  affair,  but 
it  also  has  other  important  characteristics,  for 
it  combines  with  the  devotions  a  great  deal  of 
recreation,  social  intercourse,  and  even  a  fair 
amount  of  business.  Hindu  pilgrims  come  for 
miles  to  attend  these  religious  festivals,  where 
they  not  only  bathe  and  pay  their  vows  but  also 
meet  their  friends  and  engage  in  a  general  good 
time. 

Among  the  most  interesting  features  at  such  a 
gathering  are  the  fakirs,  or  "holy  men,"  already 
mentioned.  These  half-naked  individuals,  cov- 
ered with  coatings  of  ashes,  are  generally  to  be 
seen  sitting  within  a  circle  of  slow-burning  cow- 
dung  fires.  All  around  them  are  devout  fol- 
lowers, some  bowing  prostrate,  others  looking 
on  in  wonder  and  admiration.  At  a  mela  in 
another  city  we  saw  among  the  fakirs  a  woman 
priestess.  Before  her  was  a  group  of  her  own 
sex  busy  consulting  as  to  the  great  questions  of 
religion,  and  doubtless,  also  as  to  the  practical 
problems  of  their  everyday  lives.  On  her  head 
she  wore  a  gigantic  stack  of  false  hair  made  of 
rope,  and  her  body,  covered  with  ashes,  was 
scantily  clad  in  a  few  dirty  rags.  One  only  had 
to  look  at  her  shrewd  face,  however,  to  instinc- 
tively cry  "fraud."  Indeed,  many  of  these 
fakirs  follow  the  profession  largely  for  revenue, 
and  do  not  command  the  respect  of  the  Brahman 


PROCESSION  AT  A  HINDU  MELA 


A    DEFORMED    FAKIR 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  69 

leaders,  though  a  few  of  them  are  intensely 
earnest  souls.  At  the  bathing  ghats  the  scene 
is  equally  interesting.  Hundreds  of  devotees  in 
brilliant-colored  garments  swarm  over  the  steps 
leading  down  to  the  water,  while  standing  up  to 
their  waists  in  the  stream  are  multitudes  of 
worshipers  bathing  and  reciting  their  prayers 
as  they  face  the  rising  sun.  We  wandered  on 
past  shrines  and  temples,  stopping  now  and  then 
to  view  some  strange  sight.  Here  was  a  man 
with  a  five-legged  calf  decked  out  in  gaudy 
trappings.  Evidently,  the  pilgrims  appreciated 
the  unusual  sacredness  of  the  animal,  not  know- 
ing that  the  fifth  leg  had  been  grafted  on,  for 
they  were  making  the  contributions  expected  of 
them.  Out  under  the  blazing  sun  at  another 
place  there  sat  on  a  little  cart  a  deformed  fakir 
who  had  allowed  one  of  his  legs  to  grow  stiff 
across  the  back  of  his  neck  that  thus  he  might 
expiate  his  sins.  Another  lay  under  a  tree  on 
his  bed  of  spikes.  Still  another  one  of  these 
ascetics  had  held  his  hand  in  a  clinched  position 
until  the  finger  nails  had  grown  through  the  palm 
and  actually  protruded  from  its  back.  Finally 
we  came  to  a  figure  meditating  alone  by  the  side 
of  the  road.  We  stopped  before  him,  and  with 
true  Oriental  politeness  he  made  us  feel  that 
we  were  not  intruding  and  seemed  to  be  inclined 
to  engage  in  conversation.  The  subject,  of  course, 
was  religion,  for  with  the  Hindu  religion  is  every- 
thing.     Said    he:    "Have    you    ever    seen    God.^ 


70  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

All  my  life  I've  traveled  about  from  place  to 
place  and  have  asked  hundreds  and  hundreds 
this  question,  but,  alas!  I've  found  no  man  who 
has  ever  seen  him." 

The  mela  with  its  worshipers  and  this  holy 
man  with  his  question  typify  India.  Millions 
upon  millions  of  pilgrims  are  traveling  in  a  never- 
ceasing  quest  for  the  Eternal.  From  high-caste 
Brahman  to  the  despised  Shudra,  through  every 
stage  of  society  men  are  searching  for  God  and 
seeking  to  realize  him  in  immediate  communion. 
And  this  one  great  fact  is  the  key  to  a  sympathetic 
understanding  of  the  complexities  of  this  highly 
mystical  faith.  Indeed,  nowhere  is  there  so 
much  need  that  the  Western  student  should 
orient  himself  as  in  the  case  of  Hinduism.  It 
is  easy  to  accept  the  snap  judgment  of  the  super- 
ficial tourist  or  the  missionary  of  narrow  out- 
look and  see  nothing  worthy  in  this  religion  that 
nevertheless  claims  more  than  two  hundred 
million  adherents.  A  critic  might  also  dwell 
on  the  darker  realities  of  Hinduism,  contrasting 
them  with  the  nobler  ideals  of  Christianity,  and 
conclude  that  there  is  nothing  worth  while  in 
this  Indian  mysticism.  But  such  a  course  is 
not  altogether  fair.  We  ought,  rather,  to  com- 
pare the  best  teachings  and  expressions  of  each 
faith  if  we  are  to  arrive  at  sound  conclusions. 
Of  two  things,  however,  we  may  be  very  sure. 
The  first  is  the  absolute  sincerity  and  quenchless 
zeal  of  the  Hindu  people  in  their  search  for  the 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  71 

final  truth  and  meaning  of  human  life.  No- 
where on  earth,  not  excepting  even  Christian 
lands,  is  there  such  universal  spiritual  earnestness. 
Of  course  there  has  been  much  stumbling  and 
blundering,  but  in  India  as  nowhere  else  the 
rehgious  issue  has  permeated  and  controlled  every 
thought  and  act  of  men's  daily  lives.  The  second 
fact  that  we  must  recognize  is  that  underlying 
the  whole  Hindu  system  there  is  a  considerable 
amount  of  robust,  even  if  erroneous,  thinking. 
We  must  not  conclude  that  the  Oriental  has  not 
faced  the  philosophic  problem,  because  some  of 
his  practices  appear  foolish  to  our  Occidental 
minds,  for  the  doctrines  expounded  in  the  sacred 
literature  of  India  are  based  upon  a  philosophy 
that  challenges  our  most  earnest  attention.  We 
do  not  yet  thoroughly  understand  the  significant 
teachings  of  the  ancient  Vedas  and  the  later 
Upanishads.  Immanuel  Kant,  the  greatest  philos- 
opher since  Plato,  expounded  in  his  Critique  of 
Pure  Reason  the  now^  familiar  doctrine  of  the 
relativity  of  all  knowledge.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  know  that  the  Brahmans  a  thousand  years 
before  the  German  philosopher  was  born  were 
basing  their  systems  and  practice  upon  this  very 
principle.  They  did  not  provide,  however,  for 
the  practical  reason  as  did  Kant,  and  hence 
Hinduism  took  on  a  paralyzing  mystical  develop- 
ment based  upon  this  skepticism.  Moreover,  the 
student  of  Hinduism,  whatever  he  may  think  of 
its    fundamental     assumptions,     must     maintain 


72  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

some  respect  for  the  intellectual  courage  with 
which  its  leaders  face  the  bad  implications  of 
their  pantheism.  With  a  startling  boldness  they 
accept  the  intellectual  and  ethical  confusion 
arising  from  the  complete  identification  of  God 
with  the  universe,  carry  the  contradictions  straight 
into  the  nature  of  the  Eternal  himself,  and  pro- 
claim that  there  we  must  face  and  settle  the 
problem,  though  to  the  Hindu  there  is  no  more 
dijfficulty  at  this  point  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
contradictory  aspects  of  nature  herself  as  repre- 
sented in  his  goddess,  Kali. 

Turning  to  popular  Hinduism,  nothing  will 
so  contribute  to  an  understanding  of  its  strange 
rites  and  practices  as  a  study  of  Christian  mys- 
ticism, for  every  line  of  Hindu  religious  develop- 
ment finds  in  the  history  of  Christianity  a  parallel 
in  the  false  mystical  element  that  has  character- 
ized to  some  extent  every  step  in  the  growth 
of  our  faith.  Passivity  rather  than  activity  as  an 
attitude  toward  life's  problems,  a  desire  for 
direct  emotional  communion  with  God  without 
the  interference  of  slow  intellectual  and  practical 
processes,  voices  and  special  revelations  from 
God  himself,  ascetism  with  its  meditations  and 
self-tortures,  large  use  of  an  unregulated  symbol- 
ism in  the  interpretation  of  sacred  literature  and 
religious  practices,  indifference  as  to  ethical  dis- 
tinctions, and  actual  immoralities  in  the  name 
of  the  faith  are  the  common  tendencies  of  both 
Christian  and  Hindu  mysticism.     There  is  this 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  73 

difference,  however,  that  in  the  case  of  Chris- 
tian development  there  always  has  been  a  whole- 
some respect  for  history  and  the  strong  restraining 
hands  of  definite  intellectual  and  ethical  ideals 
to  prevent  the  false  mystical  from  gaining  con- 
trol, while  in  India  the  endeavor  to  realize  God 
and  to  lose  the  individual  soul  in  the  All-Soul 
has  swept  everything  from  its  moorings. 

Nevertheless,  the  East  has  a  most  important 
message  for  the  West,  for  we  here  in  America 
and  Europe  are  in  just  as  grave  danger  at  another 
extreme,  as  is  overwhelmingly  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  the  present  terrible  European  war.  We 
are  not  likely  to  be  lost  in  a  groundless  mysticism, 
but  we  need  to  beware  lest  we  be  overcome  by 
a  crass  materialism.  The  message  of  the  Hindus 
with  their  insistent  emphasis  on  the  reality  of 
the  soul  and  God  is  vital  for  us  in  every  depart- 
ment of  our  modern  life.  The  philosophic  world 
needs  to  heed  this  voice,  the  business  world  must 
be  saved  from  a  conscienceless  commercialism, 
the  social  and  industrial  problem  will  never  be 
solved  without  this  element — yes,  even  the  ecclesi- 
astical world  needs  to  be  turned  from  its  excessive 
emphasis  on  "movements,"  "campaigns,"  and 
"statistics"  to  its  main  business,  the  culture  of 
the  soul.  We  ought,  therefore,  to  give  heed  to 
these  words  of  truth  from  a  recent  address  to 
the  Japanese  people  by  the  famous  Hindu  poet 
and  winner  of  the  Nobel  prize,  Sir  Rabindranath 
Tagore.     He  says: 


74  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

"Yet  this  modern  civilization,  with  all  its 
mechanical  devices  for  making  life  comfortable 
and  progress  rapid  on  the  outside,  has  become 
itself  a  barrier  in  its  turn  with  regard  to  the 
inner  spirit  of  man,  because  it  has  made  our 
life  so  intricate  that  it  has  lost  its  transparency  of 
simplicity.  Our  things  are  more  in  evidence 
than  ourselves.  .  .  .  Exhibition  of  man's  nature 
has  taken  its  place  on  the  surface,  where  his 
richness  is  in  his  materials,  his  strength  in  his 
organization,  his  heroism  in  his  ambitious  under- 
takings, his  mind  in  his  science.  Man's  heart 
is  squandering  its  strength  in  its  craving  for 
the  dram-drinking  of  sensationalism — pitifully 
asking  for  its  continual  doses  of  fresh  news  and 
fresh  noise — losing  its  healthy  taste  for  food  in 
its  insatiable  thirst  for  stimulants.  .  .  .  The  men 
you  meet  here  for  the  first  time  have  the  same 
signs  of  the  push  and  pull  of  the  rotating  machine- 
wheels  of  the  present  age.  They  jostle  you, 
they  drag  you  on  with  the  rush  of  the  crowd, 
they  rapidly  take  note  of  your  exterior  and 
offer  their  exteriors  to  be  taken  in  snapshots. 
They  have  a  curiosity  for  the  superficial  details, 
but  no  love  for  the  real  person.  They  are  satis- 
fied with  the  unessentials,  because  these  can  be 
gathered  easily  and  got  rid  of  as  soon,  these  can 
be  handled  and  soiled  and  swept  away  in  the 
dust-bin  with  as  little  loss  of  time  as  possible. 
For  everything  must  make  room  for  the  next 
ephemera,    the   shock   of   sensations   has    to   be 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  75 

carried  on,  and  the  men  who  have  no  time  to 
lose  must  be  amused  in  a  hurry.  They  try  to 
break  chips  off  the  permanent  for  making  play- 
things for  the  temporary."^ 

From  this  quotation  it  is  not  only  clear  that 
the  East  has  a  message  for  the  West,  but  that 
this  characteristic  emphasis  on  the  supreme  im- 
portance of  the  inner  life  must  radically  affect 
the  type  of  Christianity  that  is  to  prevail  with 
the  coming  years  in  India.  By  way  of  illus- 
tration of  this  blending  of  Oriental  and  Occi- 
dental philosophies  we  quote,  this  time  from  a 
Christian  poet  of  India,  Narayan  Vaman  Tilak: 

Not  at  all  separate,  but  one,  Jesus  and  I  are  one; 

One,  like  a  musician's  hand  and  his  lyre; 

One,  like  thought  and  speech; 

One,  like  the  nose  and  sweet  odors; 

One,  like  mother  and  babe; 

One,  like  the  guide  and  a  misled  wanderer; 

One,  like  life  and  body; 

One,  like  oil  and  the  flame  of  a  lamp; 

One,  like  rain  and  the  lake  it  fills; 

One,  like  water  and  fish; 

One,  like  the  sun  and  the  day; 

Jesus  and  I  are  one,  forever  one.^ 

Here  we  have  the  daring  mystical  element  so 
characteristic  of  India,  but  it  is  important  to 
note  that  this  poet  is  no  pantheist,  for  he  does 
not  confuse   Deity   with   humanity.     The  Jesus 

1  The  Literary  Digest,  July  29,  1916,  pp.  251,  252  (reported 
from  The  Boston  Transcript). 

2  "India's  Christian  Poet,"  by  R.  A.  Hume,  in  World  Outlook, 
September,  1916,  p.  14. 


76  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  the  poem  is  both  transcendent  and  immanent, 
and,  though  the  element  of  transcendence  is  still 
shadowy,  its  restraining  influence  upon  the  old 
Hindu  identification  of  man  and  God  is  apparent. 
We  may,  then,  expect  in  the  course  of  the  evan- 
gelization of  India  the  growth  of  a  Christianity 
in  which  our  worthy  doctrine  of  divine  imma- 
nence will  find  its  finest  expression,  and  that 
therefore  will  make  a  most  important  contri- 
bution to  the  underlying  theory  and  the  common 
practice  of  the  faith. 

Bearing  these  and  other  like  facts  in  mind, 
we  turn  now  to  the  practical  test  and  inquire 
how  Hinduism  has  worked  out  in  life.  How  has 
it  measured  up  to  the  task  of  bettering  human 
life  both  in  its  individual  and  social  aspects? 
What  contribution  has  it  made  toward  the  prog- 
ress of  civilization  and  the  alleviation  of  human 
woe.^^  This  is  the  acid  test,  and  by  it  every  re- 
ligion finally  must  be  judged.  Here,  of  course, 
the  supercritic  will  raise  the  fundamental  ques- 
tion as  to  the  relative  values  of  different  standards 
of  life,  and  will  ask  how  we  are  to  ascertain  which 
is  to  have  absolute  validity.  But  this  is  one  of 
those  queries  that  present  mainly  endless  logical 
possibilities  and  abstract  refinements.  We  can 
only  come  back  to  life  for  its  settlement,  and 
must  refuse  to  be  lost  in  the  mazes  of  fruitless 
argument.  Does  the  Hindu  system  foster  the 
larger  opportunity  for  the  development  of  man- 
kind.^   Does  it  promote  education?    Does  it  bring 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  77 

relief  for  social  inequalities?  Has  it  a  remedy 
to  propose  for  poverty  and  other  evils,  and  does 
it  apply  the  remedy  with  any  measure  of  success? 
These  and  like  questions  constitute  the  real  test, 
and  the  right  answer  to  each  is  a  negative  one. 
In  making  such  an  assertion  we  have  not  for- 
gotten that  individual  leaders  here  and  there  and 
some  of  the  modern  reform  organizations  have 
grappled  with  these  issues,  generally,  however, 
under  the  goad  of  Christian  teaching.  The 
attempts  at  practical  helpfulness  of  essential 
Hinduism,  however,  have  not  been  attended 
except  in  a  very  few  instances  with  any  noteworthy 
success.  In  view,  then,  of  these  various  con- 
siderations as  to  the  worthv  theoretical  elements 
of  the  faith,  and  also  of  its  decidedly  Hmited 
success  practically,  we  must  approach  a  study  of 
Hinduism  with  the  closest  sympathy  for  the 
mystical  viewpoint,  not  forgetting,  however,  the 
claims  of  reason,  ethics,  and  life  itself. 

A  Multitude  of  Gods 

One  of  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  this 
religion  is  its  multitude  of  gods.  There  are  ap- 
proximately three  hundred  and  fifty  million  people 
living  in  India  who  worship,  it  is  said,  some  thirty 
million  gods.  No  man  could  ever  even  catalogue 
the  deities  of  Hinduism,  for  fundamentally  the 
system  is  pantheistic,  which  means,  therefore,  that 
everything  is  a  divine  manifestation.  From  this 
conception  to  that  of  polytheism  is  but  a  step,  and 


18  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

in  practice  at  least  this  step  is  taken,  so  that 
mountains,  jungles,  streams,  earth,  sea,  and  sky 
are  teeming  with  gods.  Images  of  these  gods 
abound  everywhere,  but  as  to  the  real  attitude  of 
the  worshipers  toward  their  idols  no  one  can 
afford  to  be  dogmatic.  Without  doubt  the  com- 
mon people  largely  believe  that  the  image  is  the 
god  himself.  But  some  hold  a  somewhat  higher 
conception  and  think  of  the  idol  simply  as  the 
temporary  residence  of  the  spirit  of  the  god.  The 
more  intelligent  Hindus,  however,  would  contend 
that  the  idol  is  simply  a  reminder  or  a  symbol  of  a 
deeper  spiritual  reality,  and  is  to  be  used  much  as 
we  use  bread  and  wine  in  our  sacrament  of  holy 
communion  or  water  in  Christian  baptism.  It  is 
only  fair,  then,  in  connection  with  the  classification 
of  Hinduism  as  a  polytheistic  faith  to  quote  the 
significant  statement  of  one  of  its  leaders  to 
Professor  James  Bissett  Pratt.  He  said:  "As  ten 
people  observing  a  rose  will  see  ten  different  things, 
each  separating  out  that  aspect  of  the  rose  which 
interests  him  most,  so  of  God.  You  ask  how 
many  gods  there  are.^  There  are  in  fact,  subjec- 
tively considered,  as  many  gods  as  worshipers. 
"Each  of  us  has  his  own  God.  But  it  is  the  one 
God  who  has  these  many  forms.  He  has,  in  fact, 
an  infinite  number  of  forms  because  he  is  infinite. 
Each  of  us  is  a  form  of  God.  But  some  of  us 
represent  more  of  him  than  others  do — just  as  the 
white  light  of  a  lamp  shines  through  a  clean  and 
uncolored  chimney  better  than  through  a  clouded 


THE    LIXGA    CHAPEL CAVES    OF    ELEPHANTA 


A    HINDU     HOLY    MAN 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  19 

one."^  Without  disputing  the  truth  reflected  in 
this  view,  we  may  say  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  vast  multitudes  of  Hindus  do  not  thus  closely 
analyze  their  subjective  processes  but  regard  their 
gods  in  straightforward  fashion  as  objective  realities. 
There  could  be  no  better  introduction  to  the 
Indian  pantheon  than  that  afforded  by  a  visit  to 
the  famous  Caves  of  Elephanta,  located  on  an 
island  in  the  bay  about  six  miles  from  the  city  of 
Bombay.  They  constitute  a  Brahman  rock  tem- 
ple some  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  deep,  pro- 
vided especially  for  the  worship  of  Shiva,  one  of 
the  dominating  gods  of  modern  Hinduism.  There 
is  some  dispute  as  to  the  actual  age  of  these  Caves, 
some  holding  that  they  date  back  five  thousand 
years.  Experts,  however,  point  out  that  this  as- 
sertion could  hardly  be  true  in  view  of  the  stage  of 
religious  development  reflected  in  the  huge  carv- 
ings to  be  seen  on  the  walls.  More  conservative 
scholars  say  that  the  excavations  were  made  be- 
tween A.  D.  700  and  750.  We  were  fortunate  in 
having  as  our  guide  in  a  tour  of  these  Caves  the 
aged  native  custodian  himself,  who  surprised  us 
not  only  with  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  various  images  and  of  Hindu  doctrine, 
but  also  by  his  statement  that  he  himself  was  a 
Christian,  converted  years  ago  in  Bombay  under 
the  preaching  of  William  Taylor,  who  afterward 
became  a  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

'  India  and  Its  Faiths,  by  Professor  James  Bissett  Pratt,  p.  71. 


80  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

On  the  wall  just  opposite  the  entrance  to  the 
Caves  there  stands  a  colossal  image  of  the  "Tri- 
murti,"  or  Hindu  trinity.  The  figure  is  a  three- 
faced  bust.  The  center  face  with  its  mild  expres- 
sion represents  the  great  god  Brahma,  the  Creator, 
once  the  leading  deity  of  the  Indian  pantheon,  but 
now  superseded  largely  in  popular  worship  by 
other  gods.  On  the  left  of  Brahma  is  the  face  of 
Shiva,  the  Destroyer,  the  old  Vedic  storm  god,  who 
holds  a  very  important  place  in  modern  Hinduism. 
Around  one  of  his  wrists  is  wound  the  sacred  cobra, 
to  signify  that  he  is  the  protector  of  the  animal 
world,  while  in  the  center  of  his  forehead  there  is 
a  third  eye,  representing  spiritual  insight.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  characterize  Shiva  and  the  other 
gods  of  the  Hindus,  for  their  traits  are  nearly 
always  loosely  conceived  and  frequently  inter- 
changeable. However,  we  must  understand  that 
Shiva  is  a  destroyer  in  the  sense  of  destroying  to 
renew,  as  does  nature  in  the  passing  of  the  seasons. 
To  the  right  of  the  Trimurti  is  the  Linga  Shrine, 
typifying  most  realistically  this  reproductive  power 
of  Shiva.  In  the  midst  of  this  shrine  is  the  famous 
symbol  representing  the  creative  principle  of  life, 
about  which  there  has  been  so  much  criticism. 
Doubtless  in  theory  linga  worship  has  no  degrading 
implications,  but  in  actual  practice  it  can  scarcely 
remain  free  from  a  sensualizing  influence  upon  the 
people,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  indescribably  obscene 
representations  on  some  of  the  Hindu  temples. 
Generally,  near  by  the  linga  there  is  a  kneeling 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  81 

figure  of  Nandi,  Shiva's  bull,  upon  which  he  rides 
in  his  journeys  up  and  down  the  earth.  Near  the 
entrance  to  the  Caves  at  the  left  is  a  figure  of 
Shiva  in  another  aspect.  Here  he  is  an  ascetic 
deep  in  meditation,  thus  objectifying  the  great 
mystical  ideal  of  India.  Just  to  the  west  of  the 
Trimurti  at  the  back  of  the  Caves  we  find  Shiva 
and  his  consort  Parvati,  or  Kali.  Over  the  head 
of  Shiva  in  this  instance  there  rises  a  three-headed 
female  representing  the  three  sacred  rivers  of 
India,  the  Ganges,  the  Jumna,  and  the  Saras vati. 
Kali  seems  to  have  absorbed  most  of  the  destruc- 
tive qualities  of  her  husband,  for  she  is  commonly 
represented  in  a  most  horrible  form.  At  Kali 
Ghat,  in  Calcutta,  we  stood  one  day  in  the  midst 
of  a  crowd  of  worshipers  where  there  were  numer- 
ous images  of  this  fiendish  deity,  watching  the 
priests  slaughter  goats  in  her  honor  until  the  very 
pavement  became  slipper}^  with  the  blood  of  sac- 
rifice. It  is  said  that  the  late  Professor  Borden 
P.  Bowne,  witnessing  this  same  frightful  cere- 
mony, desired  immediately  to  leave  India.  The 
typical  representation  of  Kali  shows  her  in  the 
very  act  of  murder,  a  chain  of  skulls  about  her 
neck,  and  her  tongue  protruding  to  signify  an  un- 
slacked  thirst  for  blood.  In  one  of  her  four  hands 
she  holds  a  man's  head  dripping  with  blood;  just 
below  another  hand  holds  a  basin  to  catch  the 
blood;  a  third  hand  wields  a  bloody  sword,  while 
the  fourth  with  a  gesture  points  to  a  beheaded 
enemy  near  her  right  foot.     Under  her  left  foot 


82  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

is  another  prostrate  figure,  the  cobra  wound  around 
his  arm.  KaH  is  really  the  personification  of 
nature  in  her  terrible  aspects,  and  this  fact,  to- 
gether with  the  other  fact  that  she  is  said  to  have 
a  gentler  side,  may  tend  to  temper  our  judgment  as 
to  this  awful  deity,  but  nevertheless  the  popular 
expression  of  Kali  worship  is  filled  with  sickening 
horror. 

The  third  face  in  the  Trimurti  of  Elephanta 
represents  Vishnu.  In  Vedic  days  he  was  the  sun 
god,  but  with  the  passing  of  the  centuries  he  has 
taken  on  many  new  characteristics  so  that  now  he 
is  scarcely  recognizable  as  one  of  the  ancient 
deities.  Vishnu  is  the  Preserver,  and  rather  more 
personal  in  his  relation  to  his  followers  than  Shiva, 
corresponds  more  nearly  to  the  Christian  idea 
of  God  than  either  of  the  other  two  members  of 
the  Hindu  trinity.  He  is  a  god  of  love  and  grace, 
with  none  of  the  terrible  aspects  of  Shiva  or  Kali, 
and  stands  for  the  great  cosmic  principle  of  the 
universe,  man's  Supreme  Self.  Of  his  incarna- 
tions in  various  earthly  forms  two  are  very  im- 
portant— his  appearance  as  Krishna  and  Rama. 
Krishna  was  of  lowly  birth,  but  his  life  abounds  in 
a  multitude  of  heroic  exploits,  among  which,  for 
example,  was  his  marriage  to  sixteen  thousand 
wives.  Legends  also  gather  about  his  infancy  and 
boyhood  that  forcibly  remind  one  of  the  early 
days  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  followers  of  Krishna 
worship  are  of  two  classes,  one  that  emphasizes  the 
nobler  philosophic  side  of  devotion,  and  the  other 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  83 

that  exalts  sensuality  and  the  degrading  elements 
of  sex  relationship.  The  story  of  the  incarnation 
of  Rama  reads  in  parts  almost  like  our  gospel,  and 
the  whole  trend  of  his  life  runs  on  a  comparatively 
high  plane.  The  tales  of  his  life  and  adventures 
are  gathered  together  in  the  Ramayana,  which  has 
become  in  a  sense  the  Bible  of  millions  of  the  com- 
mon people. 

Elsewhere  in  the  Caves  of  Elephanta  we  find 
representation  of  other  gods,  among  whom  we 
mention  Indra,  the  god  of  the  firmament  who 
ranked  as  king  in  the  old  Vedic  pantheon.  He 
rides  on  a  celestial  elephant,  Airavati,  out  of  whose 
trunk  comes  the  rain  that  waters  the  earth.  Near 
the  Trimurti  also  is  a  representation  of  Arddhanari, 
a  figure  half  male  and  half  female.  In  still 
another  group  we  find  Ganesh,  sometimes  called 
Ganpati,  the  elephant-headed  son  of  Shiva.  He 
is  the  god  of  good  luck  and  is  constantly  growing 
in  popular  favor  throughout  India.  Hanuman  is 
the  monkey-headed  god  representing  faithful 
friendship.  He  figures  in  the  Ramayana  and  is 
also  one  of  the  most  popular  gods  of  the  land.  We 
might  continue  thus  to  enumerate  and  characterize 
the  multitude  of  deities,  their  wives  and  sons  and 
the  hosts  of  minor  incarnations,  but  the  ones 
already  mentioned  constitute  the  major  members 
of  the  Hindu  pantheon.  It  is  apparent  even  in  so 
brief  a  review  of  these  strange  personalities  that 
there  are  strong  traces  of  animism  in  this  faith  and 
that  most  of  the  gods,  in  Vedic  times  at  least,  were 


84  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

personifications  of  the  phenomena  of  nature. 
Lofty  moral  ideals  and  definite  ethical  distinctions 
either  are  entirely  absent  or  subordinated  to  the 
manifestations  of  power  on  the  part  of  these 
beings,  though,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  cases  of 
Rama  and  Hanuman,  there  are  some  hints  at 
nobler  things. 

The  Ceremony  of  Fire 

But  Hinduism  is  more  than  an  interesting  group 
of  gods  blindly  worshiped,  it  is  also  a  philosophy 
with  more  or  less  definite  theories  as  to  the  mean- 
ing and  purpose  of  life.  Thousands  of  years  ago 
in  the  age  of  the  Vedas,  the  gods  were  compara- 
tively few  and  the  worship  simple,  although 
animism  with  the  personification  of  nature's 
powers,  magic,  and  myth  had  already  begun  to 
modify  this  early  stage  of  development.  But 
with  the  passing  of  the  years  upon  this  ancient 
polytheism  was  imposed  an  ever-deepening  philo- 
sophic interpretation  and  ever-increasing  domi- 
nation by  the  Brahmans  or  priests.  During 
this  period,  nearly  a  thousand  years  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  the  Brahmanas  and  Upanishads 
were  added  to  the  sacred  Vedas  to  become  a  part 
of  holy  literature  of  India.  The  natures  of  the 
older  gods  were  also  modified  and  numerous  new 
ones  added  to  the  list.  In  the  year  B.C.  563  the 
great  teacher  Gotama  Buddha  was  born,  and 
there  began  the  great  reform  movement  bearing 
his  name.     Jainism  marked  another  revolt.     These 


A    HINDU    BOY    BKFOUK    A    I.INGA    SYMBOL 


HINDU    CHILDKEN    AT    THK    BIRTHPLACE    OF    KRISHNA 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  85 

two  movements  are  typical  of  numerous  other 
attempts  characterizing  the  last  twenty-five  hun- 
dred years  to  define  and  reform  the  ancient  faith, 
until  to-day,  under  the  influence  of  Mohammed- 
anism and  Christianity,  there  is  a  decided  tendency 
toward  monotheism  on  the  side  of  theory  and  to- 
ward social  helpfulness  and  reform  on  the  side  of 
practice.  During  these  long  ages  the  subtle  and 
peculiar  beliefs  of  this  country  were  gradually 
taking  definite  form  and  becoming  the  accepted 
faith  and  conviction  of  the  common  people,  until 
in  this  present  time  Hindu  mysticism  is  fully 
developed  and  marvelously  controls  the  everyday 
life  of  India. 

We  cannot  do  better  in  a  brief  discussion  of  some 
of  these  doctrines  than  to  describe  the  ceremony 
of  fire  on  one  of  the  sacred  rivers.  At  Muttra 
every  evening,  rain  or  shine,  just  at  sundown  the 
people  gather  for  this  picturesque  fire-worship  on 
the  banks  of  the  sacred  Jumna.  Here  homage  is 
done  to  Krishna,  and  Jumna,  the  river  god,  in 
most  solemn  and  spectacular  fashion.  On  a  Jan- 
uary evening,  accompanied  by  a  native  missionary 
and  his  children,  we  arrived  at  the  Fire  Ghat  just 
in  time  to  secure  a  raft  on  which  we  floated  out  on 
the  river  to  an  advantageous  position  from  which 
to  witness  the  weird  ceremony.  Along  the  river 
bank  hundreds  of  people  were  busy  launching  min- 
iature straw  rafts,  on  each  of  which  were  several 
tiny  dish  lamps  to  light  the  souls  of  their  departed 
relatives  on  the  dark  journey  into  eternity.     The 


86  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

sacred  monkeys  in  multitudes  were  mingling  with 
the  people,  jumping  from  roof  to  roof  and  chatter- 
ing incessantly.  Presently  it  began  to  grow  dusk 
and  the  great  bell  was  tolled  to  signify  that  the 
sun  was  sinking.  A  priest  stripped  to  the  waist 
took  his  place  at  the  central  altar  under  the 
canopy  and  raised  in  his  two  hands  the  vessel  con- 
taining the  fire,  which  began  to  burn  vigorously. 
As  the  crowd  shouted  and  the  flames  rose  higher 
and  higher,  this  priest  began  to  sway  back  and 
forth  to  the  rhythm  of  the  strange  "tum  tum"  of 
Oriental  drums,  and  to  lift  the  vessel  of  fire 
toward  heaven.  Then  when  the  ceremonv  was  at 
its  height  the  worshipers  threw  their  sacrifices  of 
flowers  into  the  flames,  and  cried  out  to  the  god  to 
receive  their  gifts.  The  whole  scene,  the  little 
lights  floating  down  the  dark  river,  the  tolling 
bell,  the  fantastic  music,  the  leaping  flames  and 
dancing  shadows,  the  vari-colored  garments  of  the 
worshipers  all  combine  to  make  a  never-to-be- 
forgotten  impression  on  the  memory. 

And  what  had  become  of  those  dear  ones  to 
whom  the  worshipers  were  sending  their  messages 
of  fire?  Out  of  the  All  Soul  they  had  come  for  a 
brief  period  of  earthly  existence  and  back  again 
into  the  Eternal  they  had  gone  for  a  temporary 
rest  after  death.  But  the  dead  may  not  remain 
in  the  Beyond,  for  other  long  and  oft-repeated 
journeys  must  be  made  back  to  earth  in  other 
forms  that  by  the  processes  and  experiences  of 
mundane  existence  the  soul  at  last  shall  be  puri- 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  87 

fied.  Some  spirits  must  be  reincarnated  as  vermin 
or  reptiles;  others  as  monkeys  or  cattle;  still  others 
may  come  back  to  earth  in  some  higher  caste  than 
the  one  in  which  they  had  previously  lived. 
Something  of  the  trying  ordeal  through  which  the 
soul  must  pass  on  this  theory  can  be  imagined 
when  we  realize  how  practically  endless  is  this 
never-ceasing  process.  It  is  estimated  that  each 
being  must  pass  through  more  than  eight  million 
forms  ranging  from  the  inorganic  kingdom  through 
the  organic  until  the  plane  of  human  existence  is 
reached  and  finally  conquered.  This  is  the  great 
doctrine  of  Hinduism,  the  pantheistic  belief  in  the 
transmigration  of  souls.  Superficially  considered 
such  a  teaching  seems  to  be  but  the  outcome  of 
superstitious  ignorance.  However,  a  little  sym- 
pathetic reflection  must  reveal  its  inner  meaning. 
The  Hindus  here  present  us  the  Christian  notion 
of  education  through  struggle  and  the  principle, 
"Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap,"  greatly  enlarged  and  extended.  With 
them  it  applies  not  only  to  the  three  score  years 
and  ten  of  a  limited  individual  life,  but  to  the  race 
as  a  whole  in  its  age-long  pilgrimage  back  to  God. 
Of  course  the  truth  of  the  theory  of  transmigra- 
tion and  repeated  reincarnations  finds  no  good 
grounds  within  the  sphere  of  human  experience, 
for  it  does  not  appear  that  anyone  ever  retained  a 
remembrance  of  what  happened  to  him  in  previous 
incarnations,  or  that  he  ever  profited  thereby. 
Moreover,  the  Western  mind  would  neither  con- 


88  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

sent  to  the  view  that  earthly  existence  is  essen- 
tially bad  nor  admit  that  the  desires  of  life  are  the 
great  hindrances  to  the  growth  of  the  soul,  but  the 
general  viewpoint  of  life  as  a  school  is  a  common 
characteristic  of  both  Christianity  and  Hinduism. 
Karma  is  the  term  applied  to  the  accumulated 
merits  or  demerits  of  our  existence,  and  the  "law 
of  karma"  simply  means  that  our  past  existences 
inexorably  determine  the  present  stage  of  our 
development.  So  the  great  objective  of  human 
life  is  to  get  rid  of  karma  and  thereby  attain  to 
a  condition  wherein  all  desire  is  dead.  Then  in  a 
state  of  utter  selflessness  the  soul  is  prepared  to 
cease  its  wanderings  forever  and  merge  once  more 
into  the  timeless  life  of  the  Eternal. 

Caste  Distinctions 

As  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  works  out 
in  life  we  find  that  Indian  society  is  separated 
into  certain  hard-and-fast  divisions  called  castes. 
These  castes  represent  the  present  stages  of  de- 
velopment of  multitudes  of  human  souls  in  the 
course  of  their  journeys  back  to  God.  One  can- 
not realize  the  potent  influence  of  caste  upon  every 
phase  of  life  until  he  has  actually  mingled  with  the 
people  under  its  fatalistic  sway.  One  day  after 
a  hard  trip  over  the  hot  sands  we  arrived  at  the 
outskirts  of  a  village  where  the  people  had  crowded 
out  to  welcome  our  party.  The  entire  population 
of  the  town  belonged  to  the  same  caste,  one  of  the 
lowest  in  the  social  scale.     They  were  called  cha- 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  89 

mars,  or  leather-workers,  and  the  employment  of 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  was  the  same.  Now, 
what  did  this  classification  mean  for  the  people  of 
that  village?  It  meant,  first  of  all,  that  the 
membership  of  each  person  in  this  caste  had  been 
predetermined  in  some  former  existence,  and  that 
he  was  in  exactly  the  place  called  for  by  his 
particular  karma.  It  meant  also  that  he  never 
could  expect  to  climb  any  higher  in  the  social 
scale  during  his  present  earthly  life.  It  further- 
more meant  that  he  could  not  contract  marriage 
with  a  person  of  any  other  caste.  Caste  also  fixed 
his  employment  as  a  leather-worker  to  the  end  of 
his  days.  There  are  other  implications,  some  of  a 
most  depressing  sort,  that  might  be  mentioned, 
but  these  facts  are  sufiicient  to  show  how  help- 
lessly and  hopelessly  the  people  of  India,  espe- 
cially those  of  the  lower  castes,  are  bound  by 
this  iron  custom. 

As  society  is  divided  in  this  ancient  land  there 
are  four  major  castes:  the  Brahmans,  or  priests, 
constituting  the  highest  order;  the  Kshatriyas, 
including  the  warriors  and  rulers;  the  Vaisyas,  the 
farmers  and  business  men;  and  the  Shudras,  or 
servant  class.  Then,  in  addition  to  these,  there 
is  a  fifth  group  called  the  outcastes,  who  are  prac- 
tically without  standing  in  the  world,  though  they 
number  to-day  more  than  fifty  million.  Numer- 
ous subdivisions  of  these  various  castes  make  it 
almost  impossible  to  catalogue  and  characterize 
all  the  groups  in   the  Indian  society  of  to-day. 


90  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

The  lowest  of  all  among  the  outcastes  are  scarce- 
ly as  fortunate  as  the  beasts  of  the  fields,  for  they 
are  spurned  as  untouchables,  forced  to  act  as 
slaves  for  the  higher  castes,  and  to  subsist  on 
carrion. 

To  break  caste  either  by  eating  with  a  member 
of  a  lower  order,  or  by  failure  to  observe  some  other 
of  the  inflexible  rules  of  this  custom,  is  to  invite 
disaster  not  only  to  one's  spiritual  but  even  to  his 
material  welfare.  Thus  there  is  no  recourse  from 
this  ancient  Brahman  plan  of  life.  We  recently 
met  a  lady,  a  member  of  one  of  the  leading  Hindu 
families  in  Madras,  who  some  years  ago  broke 
caste  to  become  a  Christian.  So  unusual  was  the 
procedure  that  the  newspapers  of  the  day  were 
full  of  discussion  regarding  the  matter,  and  on  the 
day  of  her  baptism  vast  crowds  gathered  around 
the  church  in  which  the  service  was  held.  Her 
parents  denounced  her  and  performed  funeral 
rites  just  as  if  she  had  died.  "The  stars  in  their 
courses,"  however,  militate  against  the  caste 
system,  for  with  the  strenuous  demands  of  modern 
business,  the  crowded  railway  carriages,  the  public 
restaurants,  and  other  institutions  of  advancing 
civilization,  it  is  becoming  increasingly  difficult 
for  the  high-caste  Brahman  not  to  touch  those  of 
lower  castes,  to  eat  his  food  only  according  to  rule, 
and  to  observe  the  many  detailed  requirements  of 
his  religion.  Missionary  effort  too  is  at  last  be- 
ginning to  tell  in  the  gradual  modification  of  the 
system,  for  it  is  noticeable  that,  whereas  in  the 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  91 

old  days  evangelistic  activity  could  reach  only  the 
very  lowest  castes,  to-day  there  is  an  upward 
movement  of  opportunity,  so  that  Christian  mis- 
sionaries now  are  securing  a  hearing  in  castes  a 
grade  or  two  higher  than  these.  Some  authorities 
on  the  field  predict  that  this  is  to  be  the  pro- 
gram whereby  at  last  the  high-caste  Brahman  is 
to  be  reached.  The  nature  of  the  mass-movement 
revivals  now  under  way  in  portions  of  north  and 
south  India  also  seems  to  lend  weight  to  this 
opinion. 

A  Marriage  of  Children 

One  of  the  gravest  consequences  of  the  caste 
system  of  India  is  child-marriage,  which  in 
thousands  of  instances  has  resulted  in  untold 
misery.  Of  late  years  reforms  tending  to  raise 
the  minimum  age  limit  for  the  contracting  parties 
has  modified  the  evil,  but  even  to-day  these  im- 
proved laws  are  constantly  violated  in  the  name 
of  religion. 

On  one  of  our  visitation  trips  in  the  native  state 
of  Baroda  by  accident  we  came  across  a  wedding 
in  one  of  the  villages.  The  affair  was  at  its  height 
in  an  open  space  under  several  spreading  trees, 
where,  besides  members  of  the  immediate  families 
concerned,  numerous  other  relatives  and  friends 
had  gathered  to  enjoy  the  festivities  of  the  day. 
A  professional  poet  standing  in  the  midst  was 
reciting  a  production  of  his  own  composition, 
much  to  the  delight  of  his  audience,  judged  by  the 


92  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

nodding  of  heads  and  the  exchange  of  smiles. 
The  bridegroom,  a  mere  lad  of  twelve,  was  there 
also,  evidently  enjoying  his  position  as  the  center 
of  attraction.  We  were  at  once  made  welcome 
and  took  our  places  with  the  invited  guests.  The 
bride,  however,  was  not  to  be  seen  anywhere,  and 
in  reply  to  our  inquiries  we  were  informed  that 
she  was  a  child  of  only  four  years  and  had  been 
left  at  home.  With  fine  Oriental  consideration, 
however,  the  mother  hastened  away  to  secure  the 
little  maiden,  that  the  visitors  might  pay  the 
proper  respects.  Like  the  American  bride,  some 
time  spent  in  dressing  elapsed  before  she  emerged, 
in  her  father's  arms.  She  was  an  exceedingly  shy 
child  and  scarcely  knew  what  to  make  of  the  un- 
usual proceedings,  especially  when  she  was  asked 
to  "look  pleasant"  during  the  taking  of  her  pho- 
tograph. Child-marriage  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  of  India,  for  there  are  said  to 
be  twelve  million  married  and  five  hundred  thou- 
sand widowed  children  between  the  ages  of  four 
and  fourteen  in  the  country  to-day.  It  ought, 
however,  in  justice  to  be  explained  that  child 
marriage  really  amounts  merely  to  a  betrothal, 
and  that  the  children  thus  engaged  return  to  their 
own  homes  and  remain  there  until  they  reach 
their  teens.  Likewise  it  should  be  pointed  out 
that  the  fearful  consequences,  as  Indian  society 
is  now  constituted,  of  the  failure  to  "marry 
off"  a  girl  during  her  childhood  presents  a  most 
trying   situation   for   those  who  would   do  away 


A    MAX    OF    THE    SWEEPER    CASTE 


A  CHILD  BRIDE  FOUR  YEARS  OF  AGE 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  9S 

with  this  institution.  And  yet  this  custom 
violates  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  Christian  ideals. 
The  solution  of  the  problem  is  deeply  involved 
with  the  whole  question  of  caste,  which  in  turn, 
as  we  have  seen,  roots  in  the  central  doctrine  of 
Hinduism.  It  will  probably,  therefore,  be  many 
years  before  the  institution  of  child-marriage 
finally  will  yield  to  the  onward  march  of  modern 
civilization. 

The  Holy  City  of  India 

Benares  is  Hinduism  in  miniature,  for  in  this 
ancient  city  are  to  be  found  the  best  and  the  worst 
of  the  faith.  During  no  one  knows  how  many 
centuries  it  has  been  the  goal  toward  which  count- 
less multitudes  have  bent  their  steps  and  other 
less  fortunate  millions  have  turned  their  hopes. 
It  is  the  holy  city  of  India,  probably  the  most 
sacred  spot  in  the  empire.  Here  we  meet  some  of 
the  most  learned  priests  and  the  most  saintly 
ascetics.  Here  are  splendid  temples  and  elaborate 
bathing  ghats.  Here  also  strange  rites  and  cere- 
monies find  constant  expression.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  a  traveler  reaches  a  state 
of  almost  hopeless  mental  bewilderment  as  he 
tries  to  visit  the  points  of  interest  and  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  ever-shifting  scenes  that  pass 
before  his  eyes.  In  the  famous  Monkey  Temple 
the  doctrine  of  reincarnation  is  given  concrete  ex- 
pression, for  over  its  sacred  walls  climb  a  host  of 
these  animals,  grinning,  chattering,  and  quarrel- 


94  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

ing.  Let  us  walk  softly,  for  these  monkeys  may 
be  our  own  fathers  or  grandfathers.  It  is  all  very 
real,  however,  to  that  group  of  rather  intelligent- 
looking  pilgrims  who  have  just  arrived  from  some 
far  away  city.  See  that  shrewd  business  man 
feeding  one  of  the  monkeys  with  the  utmost 
reverence.  To  him  transmigration  and  reincar- 
nation do  not  constitute  a  mere  theory,  they  are 
rather  the  most  solemn  facts  of  his  existence. 
This  temple  is  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Durga 
or  Kali,  and  therefore,  daily  sacrifices  of  goats 
must  be  made  to  slake  the  thirst  for  blood  of  the 
dreadful  image  within.  The  whole  ceremony  is 
most  nauseating,  for  the  priests  who  kill  the  goat 
must  smear  their  own  faces  with  the  warm  blood 
ere  they  go  into  the  presence  of  the  goddess  to 
pour  the  rest  of  it  over  her  hideous  figure.  And 
yet  one  feels  a  sense  of  relief  that  goats  are  used 
to-day  in  this  worship  rather  than  little  children, 
as  was  the  case  before  the  advent  of  British  rule 
in  India.  Yonder  on  the  bank  of  the  Ganges  is  a 
little  linga  shrine,  to  which  the  bride  who  is  to  be 
married  to-morrow  must  come  and  participate  in 
a  ceremony  that  would  inexpressibly  shock  the 
uninitiated  Westerner.  Near  by  we  stand  at  the 
edge  of  a  great  pool,  or  "tank,"  as  they  call  it  in 
India,  and  watch  the  devotees  crowd  down  the 
steps  to  throw  their  offerings  of  milk  and  flowers 
into  the  sacred  water  and  to  submerge  themselves 
under  its  filthy  green  scum.  The  sight  is  sicken- 
ing, for  surely  the  water  has  not  been  changed  for 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  95 

a  year  or  more.  And  yet  this  is  a  veritable 
Bethesda  for  souls  crippled  by  the  sins  of  past 
months  and  years.  These  earnest  worshipers  tell 
us  that  the  great  god  Shiva  one  day  engaged  in  a 
very  strenuous  task  in  the  heavens  above  until 
the  perspiration  fairly  rolled  from  his  body  as  the 
result  of  his  terrific  exertions.  Fortunately,  it 
fell  in  the  Holy  City  and  filled  this  tank,  so  that 
now  men  may  find  healing  as  they  bathe  them- 
selves in  the  sweat  of  this  favorite  god  of  Benares. 
We  wander  on  in  the  tangle  of  streets  among  the 
crowds  of  pilgrims  until  at  last  we  reach  one  of  the 
great  temples.  At  the  entrance  some  women  are 
buying  a  little  sacred  water  from  a  very  unsanitary- 
looking  well.  Temple  girls  loaf  in  the  doorway 
and  produce  the  same  sense  of  disillusionment  as 
that  experienced  by  Mark  Twain  in  Paris  in  the 
case  of  the  grisettes.  There  are  fat,  lazy-looking 
priests  too,  who  seem  for  the  most  part  to  be 
simply  enjoying  life,  though  it  is  quite  possible 
that  we  saw  them  between  services.  We  round 
a  corner  and  pass  on  straight  into  the  idol  market. 

"What  is  the  price  of  this  little  marble  Han- 
uman.^" 

"Two  rupees." 

"Entirely  too  much." 

So  we  cross  over  to  the  opposite  shop  and  buy 
him,  decorated  in  bright  red  and  yellow,  monkey 
face  and  all,  for  one  rupee.  We  must  have  a 
Ganesh  also,  that  good  luck  may  attend  our 
journeyings  through  India,  and  therefore  we  add 


96  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  elephant-headed  god  to  our  other  purchase. 
Then  in  the  mood  of  buying,  we  are  induced  by 
the  urgent  shopkeeper  also  to  take  one  of  the 
hundreds  of  lingas  he  has  on  exhibition.  What  a 
strange  business!  Idol  factories  are  filled  with 
busy  workers  in  marble  and  brass  turning  out 
deities  by  the  gross,  while  these  eager  Hindus, 
like  Americans  at  a  bargain  sale,  jostle  each  other 
in  the  crowded  idol  market  to  get  a  Shiva  cheap. 
We  visit  other  temples  and  shrines  and  interview 
some  of  the  holy  men,  following  the  never-ending 
crowds  of  pilgrims,  their  foreheads  freshly  painted 
with  the  marks  of  their  favorite  god.  Many  of 
them  have  bathed  alreadv  in  the  river  and  are 
carrying  away  little  brass  vessels  of  the  precious 
Ganges  water.  Such  is  Benares,  a  great  living 
panorama  of  popular  Hinduism. 

It  was  our  experience  one  day  while  in  this  city 
to  witness  under  very  favorable  circumstances  a 
typical  ceremony  of  this  strange  religion.  In 
the  company  of  a  Mohammedan  guide  we  made 
the  slow  trip  down  the  Ganges,  watching  the 
unique  panorama  of  bathing  ghats,  enormous 
sun-shades,  temples,  and  groups  of  bathers,  until 
our  boat  reached  the  famous  Burning  Ghat, 
where  those  of  the  Hindu  faith  are  cremated. 
Several  bodies  were  burning  on  the  various  pyres 
as  we  approached  the  place.  Suddenly  we  heard 
a  great  commotion,  the  sound  of  the  mourners  in 
the  streets  accompanied  by  the  din  of  wild  music, 
and  a  crowd  began  to  pour  through  yonder  passage- 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  97 

way  from  the  street  and  down  the  bank  to  the 
ghat.  It  was  an  elaborate  funeral  procession, 
for  we  were  to  see  the  last  rites  of  a  high-caste 
Brahman,  Dr.  Tackhand,  a  well-known  and 
greatly  esteemed  physician.  Slowly  the  bearers 
made  their  way  down  the  steps  to  the  water's 
edge.  Then  came  the  ceremony  of  purification, 
when  they  plunged  the  body  into  the  sacred 
waters  of  the  river  just  at  the  prow  of  our  boat. 
This  accomplished,  and  the  piece  of  gold  placed 
by  the  physician's  son  in  the  mouth  of  the  deceased, 
the  attendants  began  to  build  the  pyre  and  soon 
placed  the  body  in  position  on  the  top  of  the 
pile  of  inflammable  brush  and  wood.  They  then 
applied  the  torch.  After  the  process  of  crema- 
tion was  over,  the  charred  remains  and  ashes 
were  consigned  to  the  ever-flowing  waters  of  the 
Ganges,  in  which  untold  generations  all  through 
the  centuries  have  passed  out  of  human  sight  for- 
ever. Said  mv  Mohammedan  friend  as  the  cere- 
mony  closed:  '*See  that  group  of  Mohammedans 
yonder.  They  abhor  this  heathen  ceremony,  but 
the  doctor  was  so  kind  to  them  that  they  have 
overcome  their  prejudice  and  are  present  to-day 
to  do  him  honor." 

As  we  were  about  to  leave  the  Burning  Ghat 
there  floated  by  within  a  few  feet  of  our  boat  an 
unburned  human  body.  Upon  inquiry  we  were 
told  that  this  man  had  died  of  smallpox  and  that 
among  the  Hindus  this  disease  was  considered  to 
be  one  of  the  manifestations  of  fire.     Therefore, 


98  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

there  was  no  need  of  further  purification  in  this 
case,  so  the  body  simply  had  been  thrown  into  the 
the  waters  of  the  Ganges  to  be  lost  at  last  in  the 
boundless  sea,  even  as  the  soul  of  the  departed 
must  ultimately  be  lost  in  the  Eternal  Soul  of  the 
World. 

The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Theosophy 

In  Benares  not  far  from  the  banks  of  the  Ganges 
is  a  building  of  unusual  interest  to  European  and 
American  tourists.  It  is  the  Central  Hindu  Col- 
lege founded  by  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  theosophy.  The  enrollment  of  this 
college  numbers  between  two  and  three  hundred 
students  and  the  faculty  is  composed  of  both 
Hindus  and  Europeans.  It  represented  in  the 
days  when  theosophy  was  at  the  height  of  its  pop- 
ularity the  great  point  of  contact  between  Hindu- 
ism and  that  famous  cult.  In  1913,  however, 
disgusted  with  the  fraudulent  character  of  this 
new  teaching  that  had  seemed  to  promise  so 
much  for  the  future  of  Hinduism,  and  because 
of  practical  disagreements,  the  native  leaders 
broke  away  from  foreign  domination  and  the 
institution  became  an  independent  one.  Just  now 
the  outlook  for  this  college  is  quite  auspicious, 
for  a  tract  of  land  has  been  donated  for  the  pro- 
posed new  "Hindu  University  of  Benares,"  and 
generous  gifts  have  been  received  from  prom- 
inent Hindus.  Moreover,  a  bill  has  been  intro- 
duced   into    the    Viceroy's    Legislative    Council 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  99 

whereby  it  will  receive  its  charter  from  the  gov- 
ernment. The  curriculum  provides  for  both 
general  education  and  specific  instruction  in 
Hinduism.  Moreover,  liberal  conditions  are  laid 
down  for  the  matriculation  and  training  of  those 
of  other  faiths  in  the  essentials  of  their  own 
religions.  The  general  attitude  of  the  faculty 
of  the  institution  is  favorable  toward  a  broad 
interpretation  of  Hinduism,  but  decidedly  un- 
favorable toward  superstitious  rites  and  customs, 
whether  theosophic  or  Hindu.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able, therefore,  that  the  reconstructed  institution 
will  make  a  valuable  contribution  toward  the 
advancement  of  the  people. 

The  rise  and  fall  of  theosophy  in  India  con- 
stitutes a  unique  illustration  of  the  gullibility  of 
human  nature,  not  only  in  the  case  of  the  over- 
credulous  natives  of  that  land,  but  also  on  the 
part  of  many  apparently  intelligent  Europeans 
and  Americans.  The  story  of  the  movement  is 
a  long  one,  but  the  names  of  the  leaders  are  very 
familiar.  The  Theosophical  Society  was  founded 
in  New  York  city  in  1875,  largely  under  the 
influence  and  control  of  Madame  Helena  Petrovna 
Blavatsky,  a  Russian  woman  with  a  mixed 
career  and  a  foggy  past.  About  1878  she  went 
to  India  with  H.  S.  Olcott  and  began  to  elaborate 
her  ambitious  scheme  of  uniting  the  essential 
elements  of  all  religions  into  one  great  faith. 
She  published  in  the  course  of  her  lifetime  a 
number  of  books  expounding  her  mystical  views. 


100  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

among  which  may  be  mentioned  Isis  Unveiled, 
and  The  Secret  Doctrine,  in  which,  to  put  it 
mildlv,  she  drew  Hberallv  from  a  multitude  of 
printed  sources  without  acknowledgment,  and 
amplified  what  was  lacking  by  large  amounts 
of  special  revelation.  With  Olcott  she  taught 
that  in  far  away  Tibet  there  existed  a  Great 
White  Brotherhood  composed  of  men  with  com- 
plete insight  into  all  truth.  In  this  unknown 
region  also  had  been  accumulated  a  complete 
Ubrary  of  all  the  sacred  writings  of  the  world. 
From  two  of  the  great  Masters  of  this  Brother- 
hood especially  she  claimed  to  have  received  her 
theosophical  system  and  also  frequent  messages 
and  revelations.  These  were  Mahatma  Morya 
and  Koot  Hoomi.  Under  the  circumstances, 
with  Tibet  a  closed  country,  this  yarn  gave  her 
unlimited  freedom  and  authority  in  urging  the 
claims  of  theosophy  upon  credulous  natives  and 
Europeans.  However,  there  came  a  time  when 
the  bubble  burst  and  her  deluded  followers 
received  a  well-authenticated  special  revelation  on 
their  own  account.  In  1884  and  1885  the  Madras 
Christian  College  Magazine  published  an  exposure 
of  the  fraudulent  methods  of  the  theosophists 
based  upon  forty  genuine  letters  sent  by  Madame 
Blavatsky  to  Madame  Coulomb.  Later  the 
London  Society  for  Psychical  Research  took  up 
the  matter  and  carried  the  investigation  still 
further.  Meanwhile  there  were  hysterical  at- 
tempts  to   defend   Madame   Blavatsky    and    to 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  101 

cover  other  evidences  of  fraud.  However,  in 
the  end  the  whole  scheme  was  laid  bare  by  the 
publication  of  a  complete  plan  of  her  shrine  in 
Madras,  where  the  strange  manifestations  of 
occultism  took  place.  The  Madras  exposure 
sounded  the  death  knell  of  theosophy  so  far  as 
India  was  concerned.  The  real  successor  of 
Madame  Blavatsky,  who  died  in  1891,  was  Mrs. 
Anna  Besant,  who  has  lectured  extensively  in 
India  and  has  sought  to  further  the  cause  of 
Hindu  education.  However,  her  path  has  not  been 
strewn  with  roses,  for  the  career  of  Madame 
Blavatsky,  numerous  withdrawals  from  the  So- 
ciety in  India  and  elsewhere,  actual  schisms 
within  the  organization,  the  Leadbeater  case, 
serious  quarrels,  and  other  troubles  have  com- 
bined to  bring  her  an  inheritance  of  a  deeply 
discouraging  sort.  In  America  to-day  we  know 
theosophy  largely  through  the  enterprise  of  Mrs. 
Katherine  Tingley,  who  succeeded  W.  Q.  Judge, 
the  leader  of  the  revolt  against  Olcott  and  Besant. 
She  has  her  headquarters  at  Point  Loma,  Cal- 
ifornia. Such  in  brief  is  the  history  of  this  modern 
brand  of  ancient  Hinduism. 

We  cannot  do  better  in  summing  up  an  esti- 
mate of  the  value  of  occultism  and  the  influence 
of  theosophy,  from  which  the  college  at  Benares 
is  just  now  happily  emerging,  than  to  quote  the 
words  of  an  authority  who  has  taken  infinite 
pains  to  trace  out  and  carefully  weigh  every 
detail  of  the  stormy  historv  of  this  cult.    He  savs: 


10^  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

"Further,  in  spite  of  all  its  pretenses  and  all 
its  noise,  theosophy  has  made  no  contribution 
whatever  to  our  knowledge  of  Oriental  religions. 
It  has  not  discovered  a  single  fresh  historical 
fact,  nor  brought  a  fresh  text  to  the  notice  of 
scholars,  nor  produced  a  notable  translation  or 
commentary.  Thousands  of  copies  of  Mrs. 
Besant's  translation  of  the  Gita  have  been  sold; 
but  no  scholar  would  dream  of  referring  to  it 
for  the  translation  of  a  difficult  line.  Apart 
from  the  writings  of  Mr.  G.  R.  S.  Mead,  and 
one  or  two  others,  we  must  pronounce  the  whole 
vast  literature  of  the  Theosophical  Societies 
worthless  from  the  point  of  view  of  scientific 
knowledge.  Where  is  there  a  single  scholar, 
historian,  or  philosopher  to  be  found  among 
its  members?  One  and  all  are  repelled  by  the 
charlatanism  of  the  literature.  There  is,  last  of 
all,  the  gross  disservice  it  renders  by  filling  the 
heads  of  its  ordinary  members  with  the  cos- 
mological  and  historical  rubbish  which  is  dumped 
in  such  heaps  by  the  high  priests  of  occultism  at 
headquarters,  and  with  the  impudently  worthless 
trash  published  in  defense  of  superstitions  which 
thoughtful  Hindus  would  do  anything  to  get 
rid  of."^ 

Reform  Movements 

In  contrast  to  this  abortive  attempt  to  impose 
occult   teachings   upon    Hinduism   from    without 

*  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  by  J.  N.  Farquhar, 
pp.  288,  289, 


THE  :MYSTICAL  HINDUS  103  ' 


and  thus  to  create  a  world  religion,  we  find  a 
number  of  significant  efforts  toward  new  inter- 
pretations originating  within  the  faith  itself. 
These  are  worthy  of  earnest  consideration,  both 
because  of  their  manifest  sincerity  and  on  ac- 
count of  possibilities  for  good  that  seem  to  be 
wrapped  up  in  them. 

The  traveler  in  India  to-day  is  likely  to  in- 
quire, as  we  did,  regarding  the  denominational 
connection  of  certain  modern  churchlike  structures 
to  be  seen  on  the  main  streets  of  some  of  the 
larger  cities.  The  answer  to  his  question  would 
probably  surprise  him,  for  he  would  be  told  that 
these  buildings  do  not  belong  to  any  of  the  for- 
eign missionary  organizations,  but  to  one  of  the 
Samajes.  And  what  are  the  Samajes.^  They 
are  the  reform  organizations  of  Hinduism  and 
are  exercising  considerable  influence,  not  so 
much  directly  in  the  matter  of  enlisting  large 
numbers,  though  the  Arya  Samaj  has  a  very 
creditable  following,  but  in  creating  a  modern 
attitude  toward  superstitious  rites  and  social 
evils.  Of  these  various  reform  organizations  the 
Brahma  Samaj,  now  split  into  three  different 
societies,  and  the  Arya  Samaj  are  the  most 
prominent,  and  are  representative  of  a  host  of 
other  smaller  groups.  The  aim  of  these  reformers 
is  the  purification  and  defense  of  Hinduism  and 
the  foundation  of  a  universal  religion  under  the 
rallying  cry,  "Back  to  the  Vedas."  There  can 
be    not    the   slightest   doubt   that   the   influence 


104  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  Western  education  and  ideals  of  government 
and  the  foreign  missionary  propaganda  have  been 
the  strongest  factors  leading  to  the  inauguration 
of  these  reform  movements,  though  the  more 
zealous  leaders  of  the  various  organizations  would 
be  loath  to  admit  these  facts.  They,  rather, 
claim  to  find  their  theistic  philosophy,  noble 
ethical  ideals,  and  high  social  standards  all  in 
the  ancient  literature  of  India,  affirming  that 
polytheism,  idolatry,  child-marriage,  and  like 
errors  and  abuses  represent  the  degradation  of 
pure  Brahmanism.  In  order  to  understand  this 
attitude  one  must  allow  not  only  for  the  natural 
pride  of  the  Hindu  on  account  of  which  he  dis- 
likes to  admit  the  superiority  of  the  West  over 
the  East,  but  also  for  the  peculiar  mental  traits 
of  the  Oriental  that  relieve  him  of  the  incon- 
venient limitations  of  hard  facts  and  logical 
consistency.  Some  of  these  modern  leaders, 
encouraged  doubtless  by  the  theosophists,  have 
been  led  to  believe  that  their  pantheistic  philos- 
ophy is  the  solution  to  the  world  problem,  and 
that  only  from  India  can  come  the  salvation  of 
humanity.  Others  even  find  in  the  dim  and  misty 
past  of  their  country  the  beginnings  of  modern 
scientific  knowledge,  for  we  are  told  that  these 
ancients  "developed  medicine,  chemistry,  math- 
ematics, astronomy,  and  many  other  sciences." 
The  proof  for  such  statements  is  not  forthcoming, 
however,  and  they  must  be  set  down  therefore  as 
mere  figments  of  the  imagination. 


\ 

) 

J 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  106 

In  1828  Ram  Mohun  Roy  founded  his  theistic 
church  called  the  Brahma  Samaj  in  Calcutta. 
This  man  was  a  great  traveler  and  a  wide  reader. 
Not  only  had  he  studied  the  Vedas,  but  also  the 
Buddhist  writings  in  Pali,  and  the  Koran,  be- 
sides the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  the  orig- 
inals. His  creed  for  this  new  monotheistic  wor- 
ship was  a  belief  in  the  unity  of  God,  and  it  is 
highly  significant  that  he  altogether  abandoned 
the  important  Hindu  doctrine  of  the  transmigra- 
tion of  souls.  His  successor  was  Debendranath 
Tagore,  the  father  of  the  famous  poet,  Rabin- 
dranath  Tagore.  During  his  administration  a 
strenuous  debate  over  the  authority  of  the  Vedas 
took  place.  Finally  it  was  settled  that  they 
were  not  infallible,  after  a  thorough  investigation 
of  the  matter  at  Benares.  The  creed  of  the 
Brahma  Samaj  also  was  more  closely  defined  and 
became  less  pantheistic  in  its  character  under 
this  leadership,  while  belief  in  prayer,  repentance, 
and  faith  in  God  as  a  heavenly  Father  represent 
some  of  the  marked  Christian  tendencies  of  the 
epoch.  But,  although  there  was  a  very  decided 
liberal  tendency  on  the  side  of  theory  in  the 
early  history  of  the  organization,  and  real  efforts 
toward  practical  reform,  still  neither  Roy  nor 
Tagore  could  quite  consent  to  the  abandonment 
of  the  ancient  custom  of  caste.  In  1858,  however, 
there  arose  a  third  leader  by  the  name  of  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen,  who  not  only  advocated  the  aboli- 
tion of  polytheism,  idolatry,  and  child-marriages. 


106  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

but  also  the  caste  system  itself.  Out  of  this 
radical  departure  there  grew  a  split  in  the  orig- 
inal organization  and  the  liberals  formed  the 
"Brahma  Samaj  of  India"  as  distinguished  from 
the  old  or  "Adi  Samaj."  Sen  was  of  an  impetuous 
nature  and  strongly  committed  to  social  reforms, 
meanwhile,  at  times,  leaning  strongly  toward  a 
full  acceptance  of  Christian  teachings.  Indeed, 
in  several  instances  in  his  Lectures  in  India  he 
gives  utterance  to  words  of  unsurpassed  loyalty 
to  Christ  clearly  understood  by  him  to  be  the 
Son  of  God  in  the  most  orthodox  sense.  This 
humble  attitude  of  worship,  however,  is  offset 
in  other  cases  by  an  assumption  of  his  own  equal- 
ity with  Christ.  Thus  he  vacillated  in  his  thinking 
and  feeling  from  interest  in  the  organization  of 
the  Brahma  Samaj  and  practical  activities  in 
social  service  to  an  indefinable  mystical  com- 
munion, mingling  the  teachings  of  Hinduism  and 
Christianity  with  his  own  moods.  Perhaps  the 
key  to  his  strange  disposition  is  to  be  found  partly 
in  the  influence  of  Ramakrishna,  the  greatest  of 
India's  modern  mystics.  This  devotee  of  Kali 
ran  the  whole  gamut  of  mystical  experiences, 
even  through  a  period  of  wellnigh  fatal  asceticism. 
His  aim  was  the  attainment  of  a  perfect  love  for 
God  in  the  pursuit  of  which  at  times  he  actually 
lost  consciousness.  The  life  of  the  man  is  full 
of  interest  not  only  for  its  deep  sincerity  but  also 
for  the  multitudinous  methods  he  utilized  that 
be  might  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  107 

flesh.  His  biography  is  well  summed  up  in  his 
favorite  phrase,  "Not  I,  Not  I,  Thou,  Thou." 
The  mysticism  of  Ramakrishna,  teaching  the 
essential  unity  of  all  religions,  spread  rapidly  not 
only  in  India  but  as  far  as  Europe  and  America. 
In  the  United  States  a  number  of  mission  sta- 
tions were  established  in  large  cities.  Upon  the 
death  of  the  Master  in  1886  the  Order  of  Ram- 
akrishna was  organized  and  there  began  a  vigorous 
missionary  and  social  service  campaign.  Unfor- 
timately,  however,  the  simple  spirit  of  its  great 
leader  has  been  largely  lost  and  fraudulent  swamis 
have  commercialized  the  movement,  furthering 
also  its  inherent  tendencies  toward  ethical  con- 
fusion and  such  abominable  practices,  for  example, 
as  guru-worship.  Ramakrishna,  then,  in  no  small 
measure  explains  the  struggles  and  the  contra- 
dictions in  the  life  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 
After  Sen's  death  in  1884  there  ensued  consider- 
able disintegration  in  this  particular  movement 
and  no  leader  of  commanding  personality  arose 
to  take  his  place.  There  are  to-day  in  India 
between  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hundred 
Brahma  Samajes  of  various  sorts  united  somewhat 
loosely  in  a  central  organization  at  Calcutta. 
Less  than  six  thousand  members  are  enrolled 
in  these  societies.  In  its  present  form  and 
teaching  it  is  best  described  as  a  kind  of  Indian 
Unitarianism. 

The  Arya  Samaj  is  a  product  of  Western  India, 
founded  in  1875  by  a  devout  worshiper  of  Shiva 


108  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

who  was  given  the  name  of  Dayanand  Saraswati 
by  his  followers.  The  order  is  far  more  con- 
servative than  the  Brahma  Samaj  and  less  in- 
clined to  push  social  reforms,  though  the  leaders 
recognize  the  evils  of  Hinduism.  They  contend 
for  the  infallibility  of  the  Vedas  and  uphold  the 
doctrine  by  ingenuous  methods  of  symbolism  and 
a  liberal  use  of  the  imagination.  However,  the 
theology  of  the  Arya  Samaj  is  uncompromisingly 
monotheistic  and  its  ethical  theories  most  whole- 
some, though  its  founder  clung  persistently  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  and  as- 
serted that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  was  an  im- 
possibility. Also,  while  the  Arya  Samaj  is  not 
radical  enough  to  declare  openly  against  caste  as 
does  the  Brahma  Samaj,  great  liberties  are  taken 
with  the  custom  by  the  encouragement  of  inter- 
marriage among  the  different  castes.  In  relation 
to  the  work  of  Christian  missionaries  the  organ- 
ization fosters  bitter  opposition,  a  logical  atti- 
tude, in  view  of  its  aggressive  defense  of  ancient 
Hinduism,  and  on  this  account  the  leaders  fre- 
quently offer  Christian  converts  reinstatement,  or 
even  promotion  to  a  higher  caste,  provided  they 
recant  and  once  more  embrace  the  old  faith. 
In  1878  Dayanand  came  into  touch  with  Olcott 
and  Madame  Blavatsky,  with  the  result  that  a 
union  of  the  Theosophical  Society  and  the  Arya 
Samaj  was  effected,  but  the  new  arrangement 
lasted  only  a  few  years.  Recently  several  worthy 
educational  enterprises  have  been  fostered  bv  the 


_a 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  109 

organization  notably  at  Lahore,  Hardwar,  and 
Jullundur.  Likewise  there  have  been  some  ex- 
periments along  evangelistic  lines  patterned  after 
Christian  missionary  methods.  A  very  distinct 
growth  in  numbers  has  marked  the  progress  of 
the  Arya  Samaj  during  the  last  two  decades,  so 
that  to-day  they  report  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  followers. 

The  future  of  the  reform  organizations  of  India, 
however,  is  still  problematical.  No  less  an  author- 
ity than  Rabindranath  Tagore,  himself  the  best 
product  of  the  Brahma  Samaj  movement,  of 
which  his  father  was  such  a  worthy  leader,  is 
thus  reported  by  J.  N.  Farquhar:  "He  expects, 
he  said  to  me  a  few  months  ago,  that  the  regen- 
eration of  India  will  come  through  gradual  change 
within  the  body  of  Hinduism  itself  rather  than 
from  the  action  of  any  detached  society  like  the 
Brahma  Samaj."'  With  this  opinion,  of  course, 
there  would  be  profound  disagreement  on  the 
part  of  other  leaders  of  the  various  Samajes.  But 
whatever  may  be  the  developments  of  these 
societies  with  the  coming  years,  one  fact  stands 
out  now,  that  they  are  beginning  to  tell  for  the 
betterment  of  India.  They  are  helping  to  create  a 
new  sense  of  independence  and  nationalism.  In- 
deed, in  numerous  instances  overzealous  agitations 
on  the  part  of  some  of  these  leaders  along  the  lines 
of  social  justice  have  led  even  to  misunderstand- 

^  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  by  J.  N.  Farquhar, 
p.  384. 


no  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

ings  with  the  government.  Moreover,  their 
influence  is  helping  to  break  down  the  caste 
system  and  is  causing  the  better-class  educated 
Hindu  to  grow  just  a  little  ashamed  of  such  re- 
ligious debauches  as  one  can  witness  for  example 
every  day  at  Benares  or  Kali  Ghat  in  Calcutta. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  recent  change 
in  attitude  toward  religious  problems  in  India 
as  represented  by  these  new^  movements  is  mainly 
the  result  of  the  Christianizing  efforts  of  the 
past  decades.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  other 
elements  have  entered  into  this  awakening  of 
India  to  her  dire  condition  and  need.  Such  are 
the  closer  contact  with  the  outside  world  through 
commercial  relationships,  new  educational  oppor- 
tunities, etc.  The  great  leaven,  however,  is  Jesus 
Christ  as  he  is  set  forth  in  the  great  missionary 
endeavor  of  the  Christian  Church.  More  real 
"results"  are  to  be  found  involved  in  these  re- 
forms thus  stimulated  than  in  even  the  tabulated 
reports  of  mission  boards  and  the  direct  victories 
of  the  cross  as  related  by  returned  missionaries, 
for  these  movements  are  unmistakablv  headed 
in  the  direction  of  Christian  teaching,  and  no 
power  on  earth  can  stop  them.  Thus  by  a  process 
of  indirection  the  very  presence  and  w^ork  of 
Christian  teachers,  physicians,  and  evangelists  is 
constituting  a  guarantee  that  the  India  of  to- 
morrow will  be  a  Christian  India.  That  this  is 
not  simply  a  prejudiced  optimism  is  borne  out 
by  the  hard  fact  that  the  rate  of  increase  in 


THE  MYSTICAL  HINDUS  111 

converts  for  Hinduism  during  the  twenty  years 
1896-1916  was  less  than  five  per  cent,  while  that 
for  Christianity  during  the  same  period  was  nearly 
seventy  per  cent/  This  would  seem  to  show  that 
India  is  really  turning  to  Christ  as  her  highest 
hope. 

REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  BRAHMANISM  AND 

HINDUISM 

The  Cave  Temples  of  India:  Fergusson  and  Burgess. 

The  Gods  of  India:  E.  O.  Martin. 

Hinduism:  T.  W.  Arnold. 

Brahmoism:  Ram  Chandra  Rose. 

Brahmanism  and  Hinduism :  Sir  M.  M.  Williams. 

Indian  Wisdom:  Sir  M.  M.  Williams. 

Modern  Reform  Movements  in  India:  J.  N.  Farquhar. 

Hinduism  in  Europe  and  America:  Mrs.  E.  A.  Reed. 

The  Rehgious  Problem  in  India:  Mrs.  Annie  W.  Besant. 

Theosophy  and  New  Thought:  H.  C.  Sheldon. 

Christ  and  the  Eastern  Soul:  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall. 

^Statistics  from  Statesman's  Year-Books  1896-1916. 


CHAPTER  IV 
UNDER  THE  BO-TREE 


Look  not  for  refuge  to  anyone  besides  yourselves. — 
Golama  Buddha. 


CHAPTER  IV 

UNDER  THE  BO-TREE 

When  Prince  Siddhattho,  that  is,  Gotama 
Buddha,  was  born,  five  hundred  and  sixty-three 
years  before  Christ,  his  father,  King  Suddhodano, 
called  a  conference  of  priests  and  astrologers  to 
forecast  the  boy's  future.  After  much  deliberation 
they  asserted  that  the  prince  would  make  a  great 
success  in  life  either  as  a  worl.d-ruler  or  as  a  supreme 
buddha,  depending  upon  whether  he  should 
choose  a  worldly  career  or  the  life  of  an  ascetic. 
The  king  upon  receiving  this  information  was 
much  concerned  lest  his  son  should  withdraw 
from  the  world  and  become  a  monk,  for  he  was 
exceedingly  ambitious  that  Siddhattho  should 
attain  to  a  great  earthly  kingship.  Because  of 
this  apprehension,  therefore.  King  Suddhodano 
took  every  precaution  to  bar  from  the  sight  of  the 
young  prince  every  evidence  of  the  vanity  of  life, 
such  as  pain,  disease,  and  death,  and  to  surround 
him  with  every  kind  of  earthly  pleasure.  Three 
palaces  were  built  for  him  and  landscape  gar- 
deners were  employed  to  lay  out  wonderful  gar- 
dens with  stately  trees,  flowing  brooks,  and  beds 
of  lotus  blossoms.  Also  a  harem  of  beautiful  girls 
and  bands  of  musicians  and  dancers  were  provided, 
that  the  life  of  the  young  man  might  become  one 

115 


116  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

long,  sweet  song.  Under  this  environment  Sid- 
dhattho  grew  to  manhood,  and  never  once  even 
dreamed  of  the  sad,  dark  facts  of  human  existence. 
But  one  day  he  was  out  driving  in  his  garden  when 
suddenly  he  came  upon  a  most  unusual  sight.  It 
was  an  old  man,  bent  and  broken  by  the  weight  of 
years.  His  face  was  wrinkled,  most  of  his  teeth 
were  gone,  and  his  head  was  nearly  bald,  only  a 
fringe  of  snow-white  hairs  remaining.  Moreover 
he  was  so  weak  with  advancing  age  that  he  was 
just  able  to  hobble  along  with  the  aid  of  a  stick. 
Struck  with  the  strange  apparition,  the  young  man 
cried,  "What  is  this.^"  In  answer  to  the  question 
he  heard  for  the  first  time  the  tragic  story  of  old 
age,  for  he  was  told  that  the  poor,  bent  figure  was 
that  of  a  man  who  had  lost  the  vigor  and  freshness 
of  youth,  and  now  in  his  state  of  helpless  dotage 
had  been  abandoned  by  neighbors  and  friends.  At 
first  Siddhattho  thought  that  this  must  be  an 
isolated  case,  and  the  cruel  treatment  peculiar  to 
some  one  family.  However,  the  charioteer  quickly 
informed  him  that  the  old  man  represented  the 
working  of  a  common  law  of  life,  and  that  every 
youth  must  come  finally  to  this  dreadful  state. 
Saddened  to  his  soul  by  this  hard  fact,  the  prince 
returned  to  his  palace  and  refused  for  some  time 
to  be  comforted. 

A  little  later,  however,  a  second  excursion  was 
planned,  and  once  more  the  prince  drove  down  the 
road  in  his  chariot  only  to  come  upon  a  sight,  if 
anything,  worse  than  the  first  one.     This  time  it 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  117 

was  a  sick  man  covered  from  head  to  foot  with 
loathsome  ulcers.  There  he  lay  beside  the  road 
in  a  bed  of  filth  unable  to  help  himself  and  without 
a  friend  to  assist  him.  Already  the  shadow  of 
death  was  creeping  over  his  poor,  weak  body. 
Upon  being  told  that  this  was  sickness,  and  that 
it  might  come  to  anyone,  rich  or  poor,  no  matter 
what  his  circumstances  in  life,  the  heart  of  the 
prince  grew  heavier  than  ever,  and  again  he 
hastened  home  to  nurse  the  new  wound  that  the 
awful  realism  of  life  had  given  him. 

Some  days  later,  in  spite  of  this  growing  pessi- 
mism, a  third  trip  was  made.  The  royal  party 
proceeded  out  through  the  western  gate  of  the 
garden,  but  before  they  had  gone  far  a  funeral 
procession  crossed  their  path  and  they  had  to 
come  to  a  halt.  The  corpse  wound  in  a  sheet,  the 
noisy  mourners,  and  the  weird  music  of  drum  and 
fife  amazed  the  prince.  "What  is  this.^"  he  once 
more  inquired.  "This  is  death,"  came  the  terrible 
answer.  Even  then  the  young  man  could  not 
understand,  and  so  it  was  further  explained  that 
the  corpse  lying  there  silent  and  white  would  never 
walk  again,  would  never  speak  again,  and  that  it 
could  not  even  hear  the  cries  of  the  dear  father, 
mother,  wife,  and  children.  Upon  hearing  this, 
Siddhattho  exclaimed  in  bitter  anguish:  "Woe  be 
to  youth,  which  is  the  sport  of  age!  Woe  be  to 
health,  the  plaything  of  many  sicknesses!  Woe 
be  to  life,  which  is  as  a  breath !  Woe  be  to  empty 
pleasures  which  ruin  mankind!" 


ii 


118  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

On  a  fourth  trip,  however,  the  prince  found  a 
clue  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  life.  Upon 
this  occasion,  in  spite  of  the  extra  guards  placed 
everywhere  by  the  king  as  a  precaution  against 
these  awful  sights  that  were  so  strongly  influencing 
his  son,  the  young  man  suddenly  came  upon  a 
monk  carrying  a  beggar's  bowl  in  his  hand.  His 
garments  were  scant  and  coarse  and  there  was 
nothing  about  him  to  indicate  any  love  of  earthly 
splendor.     But  his  face  was  calm,  gentle,  peaceful. 

What    is    this?"    again    questioned    the    prince. 

Ah,  this,"  said  the  charioteer,  "is  the  New  Life." 
And  when  he  was  told  furthermore  that  the 
Brahman  ascetic  had  fixed  his  thoughts  on  divine 
things  and  had  utterly  annihilated  the  desires  of 
the  flesh,  Siddhattho  himself  determined  to  follow 
his  example  and  discover  if  possible  his  wonderful 
secret.  Such  is  the  story  that  led  to  the  enlight- 
enment of  Gotama  Buddha.  Whether  all  this 
actually  happened,  or  whether  the  tale  is  simply  a 
symbolization  of  the  thought  processes  by  which 
the  Great  Teacher  came  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  makes  but  little  difference.  In  either  case 
it  presents  the  great  problem  of  evil  for  which 
Buddha  offered  his  solution. 

Tradition  goes  on  to  tell  of  the  frantic  efforts  of 
King  Suddhodano  to  thwart  the  purposes  of  his  son. 
He  invented  new  pleasures  for  the  prince  and  mul- 
tiplied the  guards  about  the  palace;  but  the  song 
of  Ecclesiastes,  "Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity," 
had  saturated  the  soul  of  Gotama,  and  one  dark 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  119 

night  he  slipped  stealthily  away  to  follow  the  path 
of  the  Brahman  ascetic.  At  first  he  joined  him- 
self to  one  of  the  religious  teachers  of  Brahmanism, 
hoping  to  find  help  in  the  classic  faith  of  India, 
but  during  these  years  very  little  light  breaks  into 
his  dark  despair,  although  he  gives  himself  over  to 
the  most  rigorous  ascetic  practices.  He  resolves, 
therefore,  to  work  out  his  own  salvation  and 
chooses  the  famous  bo-tree  at  Gaya  as  a  place  to 
meditate  upon  the  meaning  of  life,  where  he  wages 
a  mighty  struggle  with  his  insistent  desires  and  the 
fundamental  "will  to  live."  Gaya,  or,  rather, 
Buddh  Gaya,  about  a  hundred  miles  from  Benares, 
is  one  of  the  most  sacred  spots  in  India.  Here  the 
traveler  of  to-day  may  visit  the  scenes  of  Gotama's 
mighty  soul  struggle,  and  the  very  spot  where  one 
of  the  world's  greatest  religions  was  born.  The 
original  temple  at  this  place,  closely  connected 
with  numerous  events  in  Buddha's  life,  was  built 
in  B.  C.  543,  and  the  present  structure  is  said  to 
contain  the  oldest  sculptures  in  all  India.  Behind 
this  temple  on  an  elevated  platform  is  a  bo-tree  on 
the  spot  where  the  original  bo-tree  grew  under 
which  Buddha  sat  during  the  meditations  that 
resulted  in  this  great  Oriental  religious  movement. 
Numerous  images  of  the  Teacher  himself  also  are 
to  be  seen  in  Buddh  Gaya.  In  spite  of  the  temp- 
tations of  Mara,  the  Buddhist  Satan,  who  came  to 
Gotama  here  at  Gaya  with  the  appeal  of  hunger, 
of  ambition,  and  of  sensuality  to  turn  him  from 
the  path  of  truth,  he  finally  emerges  victorious 


120  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

from  his  long  meditations,  and  leaves  the  bo-tree 
to  go  forth  with  a  definite  remedy  for  the  ills  of 
human  life  and  a  complete  system  of  knowledge 
which  has  also  been  called,  in  striking  similarity 
to  our  own  gospel,  "The  Glad  Tidings." 

The  Famous  Sermon  at  Benares 

Buddha's  ministry  began  in  the  holy  city  of 
Benares,  where  he  preached  his  first  sermon  to  a 
handful  of  half-credulous  ascetics  who  knew  him 
in  his  old  Brahman  days.  They  had  given  him 
up  for  lost  when  he  left  their  ranks  and  had  classed 
him  as  a  heretic,  so  the  congregation  on  that 
memorable  day  at  first  must  have  been  far  from 
sympathetic.  The  preacher,  however,  by  the 
sheer  power  of  his  calm,  dignified  personality 
arrested  their  attention  and  soon  they  began  to 
listen  closely  to  his  discussion  of  "The  Foundation 
of  the  Realm  of  Eternal  Justice,"  into  which  the 
new  prophet  poured  all  the  conclusions  of  his 
earnest  struggles  with  the  problem  of  life  and  his 
bo-tree  meditations.  He  outlined  at  the  start  the 
Four  Great  Truths.  The  first  was  the  universality 
of  human  suffering,  or  the  inherent  evil  of  exist- 
ence. Under  this  head  Buddha  pointed  out  with 
multiplied  illustrations  that  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave  mankind  is  literally  beset  with  sufferings 
of  every  kind,  including  disappointments,  mis- 
fortune, sickness,  and  death.  The  second  truth 
indicates  the  cause  of  suffering,  and  this  Gotama 
finds  not  in  anything  external  but  in  the  desires 


'A 

W 
H 

o 

H 


I— I 

K 
o 
a 

w 

w 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  121 

of  the  soul  itself,  and  fundamentally  in  the  "will 
to  live";  that  is,  in  the  craving  for  existence. 
This  constant  seeking  for  a  continuation  of  life 
results  in  an  endless  chain  of  reincarnations  which 
can  be  broken  only  when  desire  is  at  last  extin- 
guished. This  drastic  remedy  is  Buddha's  third 
truth.  The  fourth  relates  to  the  method  of  at- 
tainment of  Nirvana,  a  state  wherein  there  is  left 
no  "will  to  live,"  and  shows  that  this  condition 
can  be  reached  only  as  one  follows  strictly  the 
sublime  path  of  Buddhism. 

Upon  this  fourfold  philosophic  foundation,  then, 
the  preacher  began  to  build  his  practical  teaching, 
which  he  called  the  Eightfold  Path,  in  contrast  to 
the  ruinous  Twofold  Path  that  leads  to  destruction. 
If,  said  he,  a  man  follow  the  path  of  striving  to 
satisfy  his  desires  and  passions  in  a  round  of 
empty  pleasures,  there  is  no  hope  for  him.  Neither 
is  there  any  salvation  in  the  opposite  of  this,  in 
fasting,  self-torture,  and  asceticism.  "No;  walk  in 
the  Eightfold  Path  and  be  saved!"  is  the  cry  of  the 
preacher  of  Gaya.  And  what  was  Buddha's 
Eightfold  Path.^  The  first  part  is  right  knowledge, 
embracing  a  correct  understanding  of  the  misery 
of  life.  "And  what,  O  ascetics,  is  right  knowledge.^ 
The  knowledge  of  misery,  O  ascetics,  the  knowledge 
of  the  origin  of  misery  (craving  for  selfhood),  the 
knowledge  of  the  cessation  of  misery  (the  Eightfold 
Path) — this,  O  ascetics,  is  called  right  knowledge." 
Right  aspirations  come  next  and  grow  out  of  right 
knowledge.     These  consist  in  earnest  craving  for 


122  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

renunciation  and  a  state  of  love  for  all  mankind. 
The  third  part  of  the  path  is  called  right  speech, 
and  emphasizes  guarding  the  tongue,  for  "the 
future  life  of  a  man  depends  on  his  words."  Then 
comes  right  conduct  with  a  strong  negative  aspect, 
but  also  with  a  worthy  positive  teaching.  The 
disciple  must  curb  the  desires  of  his  senses,  espe- 
cially lust  and  anger.  He  is  also  exhorted  to  preach 
the  doctrine  of  Buddhism  for  the  benefit  and  wel- 
fare of  mankind.  In  right  living  occupations 
hurtful  to  one's  fellow  men  or  to  the  lives  of 
animals  are  forbidden,  also  those  vocations  lending 
themselves  easily  to  dishonesty  and  unfairness  are 
denounced.  Right  effort  enforces  the  need  of  great 
resolution  both  to  overcome  evil  and  to  do  good, 
not  by  ascetic  practices,  but  by  the  sheer  force  of 
the  mind  bending  to  its  strenuous  task.  The 
seventh  division  of  the  Eightfold  Path  is  named 
right  thinking.  Here  Buddha  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  the  mind  is  responsible  for  evil  thoughts 
and  so  of  evil  motives  and  acts.  Therefore  the 
mind  must  be  trained  in  the  right  way,  if  we  are 
to  secure  final  deliverance.  The  last  of  the 
Eightfold  Path  is  right  meditation,  wherein  a  right 
state  of  mind  is  attained  and  reason,  singleness  of 
purpose,  love  and  joy  reign  supreme.  This  final 
state  is  not  to  be  described  as  ecstasy  in  the 
common  mvstical  sense,  but  as  a  condition  of  calm 
realization  of  truth. 

This  sermon,  then,  is  the  essence  of  Buddhism 
and   represents   the   original   contribution   of   its 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  12S 

founder.  However,  there  are  other  elements  and 
doctrines  woven  into  the  system  besides  the  Four 
Great  Truths  and  the  Eightfold  Path.  We  must 
remember  that  Buddhism  was  a  reform,  a  protest 
against  Brahmanism,  much  like  the  movement  of 
Martin  Luther  in  the  history  of  our  own  faith. 
Hence,  as  we  might  expect,  there  were  preserved 
some  of  the  ancient  doctrines  of  India  in  the  new 
order.  The  most  important  of  these  was  that  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls,  which  Gotama  accepted 
bodil}^  with  this  exception,  however,  that  while 
the  Brahmans  taught  the  reincarnation  of  souls,  he 
asserted  that  there  was  no  such  entity  as  a  soul,  and, 
therefore,  only  the  craving  or  disposition  of  the 
life  passed  over  into  the  new  incarnations.  His 
own  personality  too  constituted  no  small  element 
in  the  shaping  of  Buddhism,  for  besides  possessing 
a  great  mind  the  Master  also  had  a  great  heart 
and  sincerely  loved  his  fellow  men.  Therefore 
this  otherwise  seemingly  coldly  rationalistic  sys- 
tem took  on  the  warmth  of  life  as  he  sent  forth  his 
disciples  to  teach  mankind  the  way  of  deliverance 
from  the  ills  of  existence. 

The  success  of  the  great  reform,  moreover,  was 
vitally  furthered  by  the  enlistment  of  Asoka,  the 
king  of  Behar,  who  reigned  about  B.  C.  250.  He 
became  thoroughly  converted  to  the  truth  of 
Gotama's  teachings  and  most  zealously  gave  him- 
self to  the  work  of  promoting  them.  It  is  said 
that  he  personally  supported  sixty-four  thousand 
priests,  and  besides  gave  Buddhism  the  elements 


1J24  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  organization  and  clear  doctrinal  definition. 
Under  his  supervision  also  a  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  guard  the  purity  of  the  faith  and 
another,  to  revise  the  canon.  The  missionary 
propaganda  too  had  its  first  large  development 
during  this  period.  The  disciples  of  Buddha  car- 
ried the  new  enlightenment  to  Ceylon  about  B.  C. 
300,  to  Burma  probably  as  early  as  B.  C.  207,  and 
to  China  some  time  during  the  second  century 
before  Christ.  Dating  from  this  period,  the  faith 
constantly  spread  over  the  whole  of  the  far  East, 
to  Korea  in  A.  D.  372,  to  Japan  in  552,  to  Siam  in 
638,  and  to  Java  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  centuries. 
But  while  Buddhism  was  thus  enlarging  its  bor- 
ders abroad  a  serious  decline  ensued  in  India,  the 
land  of  its  birth,  until  to-day  we  find  it  represented 
only  in  a  few  small  sections  on  the  northern 
boundaries  of  the  empire.  It  is  said,  however,  by 
Buddhist  leaders  that  the  followers  of  the  Teacher 
now  number  five  hundred  million,  a  figure  well 
illustrating  the  Oriental  habit  of  exaggeration, 
for  on  a  liberal  estimate  there  cannot  be  more 
than  a  hundred  and  fifty  million  of  them.  More- 
over, literally  millions  of  these  Buddhists  have  no 
comprehension  whatever  of  its  essential  teachings 
and  are  hopelessly  illiterate.  This  purely  nom- 
inal connection  of  vast  multitudes  with  the  faith 
should,  of  course,  be  taken  into  account  in  any 
comparison  of  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
different  religions  of  the  world. 

Gotama  Buddha  began  his  public  ministry  at  the 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  125 

age  of  thirty-six  and  spent  forty-four  years  travel- 
ing from  place  to  place  preaching  his  gospel.  It 
is  now  pretty  clearly  established  that  he  died  at 
Kusinagara,  a  place  not  yet  fully  identified,  near 
his  birthplace  at  Pikrawa.  One  authority  has 
fixed  the  date  of  his  death  very  definitely  as 
October  13th,  B.  C.  483,  but  this,  of  course,  may 
be  open  to  question.  It  is  significant  that  neither 
he  nor  the  great  leaders  of  Buddhism  since  his 
death  have  ever  claimed  that  he  was  more  than  a 
man.  It  is  taught,  however,  that  he  succeeded  in 
reaching  his  ideal  in  the  attainment  of  complete 
enlightenment.  In  the  course  of  human  history 
innumerable  Buddhas  have  been  born,  twenty- 
four  of  whom  have  been  definitely  named.  Go- 
tama  is  the  last  of  these,  but  prophecy  says  there 
are  to  be  others,  among  whom  a  very  great 
teacher  is  to  arise  who  will  lead  the  world  still 
further  into  the  light.  As  a  fitting  close  to  this 
very  brief  sketch  of  his  life  we  quote  the  Teacher's 
dying  words,  which  constitute  a  most  worthy 
exhortation  to  all  mankind: 

"Be  earnest,  be  thoughtful,  be  holy.  Keep 
steadfast  watch  over  your  own  hearts.  He  who 
holds  fast  to  law  and  discipline  and  faints  not, 
he  shall  cross  the  ocean  of  life  and  make  an  end 
of  sorrow." 

A  Feast  of  the  Full  Moon 

Our  first  introduction  to  Buddhism  was  in 
Ceylon.     Here  we  visited,  at  Kandy,  the  famous 


126  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Temple  of  the  Tooth,  so  called  because  the  shrine 
within  is  said  to  have  contained  a  tooth  of  the 
Great  Teacher.  The  original  tooth,  however, 
was  destroyed  by  the  Portuguese  Catholics  and 
later  replaced  with  a  tusk  some  two  inches  in 
length.  This  substitution,  however,  does  not  seem 
to  affect  the  zeal  of  the  worshipers,  for  they  still 
speak  of  the  tusk  as  the  tooth  of  Buddha.  Prob- 
ably the  majority  of  the  pilgrims  are  not  even 
aware  that  the  original  tooth  ever  was  destroyed. 
By  a  fortunate  coincidence  we  reached  Kandy  in 
time  for  a  great  religious  gathering — the  Feast  of 
the  Full  Moon.  Thousands  of  pilgrims  had 
arrived  from  great  distances,  some  even  from  far- 
away Burma,  to  attend  this  festival,  and  to  see 
the  tooth.  The  temple  is  most  picturesquely 
situated  on  the  banks  of  a  beautiful  artificial  lake 
with  a  vine-clad  hillside  in  the  background. 
Here  at  the  gate  and  on  the  steps  leading  up  to  the 
main  doorway  we  found  a  motley  collection  of 
beggars,  "the  maimed,  the  halt,  and  the  blind," 
men,  women,  and  children,  each  earnestly  entreat- 
ing the  incoming  worshipers  for  alms.  Nor  were 
they  unsuccessful  in  their  solicitations,  for  the 
Buddhists  are  very  charitably  inclined  and  were 
giving  small  money  or  handfuls  of  rice  to  these 
miserable  creatures.  In  addition  to  the  beggars 
there  were  numerous  dealers  in  trinkets,  and  books 
on  the  Buddhist  religion,  driving  bargains  with 
individuals  who  paused  for  a  moment  at  the  main 
gate.     One  of  the  first  sights  to  attract  the  atten- 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  127 

tion  within  the  outer  inclosure  of  the  temple  is  the 
sacred  pond,  in  which  hundreds  of  turtles  wait 
to  be  fed.  Some  of  these  are  very  old,  for  it  is  a 
crime  to  kill  or  injure  one  of  them.  They  were 
also  well  cared  for,  because  of  their  unique  char- 
acter as  sacred  beings.  Near  the  pond,  on  the 
outer  walls  of  the  temple  proper,  is  to  be  seen  a 
series  of  ancient  paintings  on  the  punishments  of 
hell.  The  artist  has  treated  his  subjects  in  a 
most  realistic,  lurid  fashion  and  yet  it  is  apparent 
that  an  effort  had  been  made  to  show  in  the  case 
of  these  various  representations  how  the  punish- 
ment grows  naturally  out  of  the  sin.  Thus  it  is 
possible  even  for  a  foreigner  to  discover  from  each 
picture  the  sin  that  belongs  with  that  particular 
kind  of  punishment.  Here  one  sees  depicted  the 
dreadful  torment  of  the  cheat,  the  adulterer,  the 
liar,  and  the  murderer. 

Of  course  we  were  anxious  to  visit  the  Shrine 
of  the  Tooth,  and  joined  the  suffocating  crowd 
that  was  making  its  way  tediously  up  the  steps 
to  the  top  of  the  temple.  Frequently  the  throng 
would  pause  to  cry  in  unison  a  kind  of  "Amen." 
Nearly  every  worshiper  carried  a  tray  of  heavy- 
scented  blossoms  as  an  offering.  Finally  we  reached 
the  very  door  of  the  shrine,  where  we  were  halted 
until  we  had  removed  our  shoes.  This  done,  we 
surged  with  the  crowd  into  the  dimly  lighted  room, 
where  two  priests  showed  the  golden  receptacle 
in  which  the  sacred  tooth  reposes,  and  received 
the  generous  ofiferings  of  money  and  flowers  from 


128  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  earnest  pilgrims  who  bowed  and  prayed  before 
it  in  a  most  idolatrous  fashion.  The  casket, 
however,  is  very  rarely  opened,  for  only  when 
there  is  a  special  need  for  money  or  upon  the  oc- 
casion of  a  royal  visit  is  the  tooth  exposed  to  view. 
In  the  tower  of  this  temple  there  is  a  fine 
library  of  Buddhist  books.  The  priest  in  charge 
showed  us  the  three  Pitakas  in  the  original  Pali, 
bound  in  a  most  elaborate  and  costly  style  with 
inlaid  covers  decorated  with  precious  jewels. 
The  pages  of  the  Pitakas  are  about  two  feet  by 
two  inches  in  size,  for  the  three  volumes  are  made 
of  the  leaves  of  a  peculiar  species  of  palm  that 
flourishes  in  Ceylon.  From  another  volume  of 
the  Pitakas  we  were  given  a  half  dozen  of  these 
leaves  as  souvenirs  of  our  visit  to  this  famous 
library.  The  three  Pitakas  (baskets)  contain  the 
law  and  the  gospel  of  Buddhism,  for  in  them  are 
recorded  the  sayings  of  the  Master  and  the  best 
teachings  of  the  faith.  One  of  these  Pitakas  is 
called  the  Sutta  Pitaka,  and  contains  the  sermons 
and  addresses  of  Buddha  himself,  as  well  as 
numerous  parables  and  sayings  from  his  lips 
intended  to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  various 
doctrines  of  the  faith.  Another,  the  Vinaya 
Pitaka,  is  a  collection  of  laws  and  rules  for  the 
guidance  of  those  who  renounce  the  world  entirely 
and  take  the  exacting  ten  vows  of  Buddhism  in 
contrast  to  those  of  a  lower  order  who  are  required 
to  take  only  five.  The  third  volume  of  the 
Pitakas,  known  as  the  Abidhamma  Pitaka,  is  a 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  129 

comparatively  modern  production  embodying  psy- 
chological and  philosophical  treatises  intended  for 
the  use  of  scholars. 

Suppose  we  open  this  last  volume  and  read  from 
one  of  its  dry,  yellow  leaves.  The  author  is  dis- 
cussing the  control  of  sense  impressions  and  says: 
"What  is  it  to  have  the  doors  of  the  faculties 
guarded?  When  a  certain  individual  sees  an 
object  with  the  eye  he  is  not  entranced  with  the 
general  appearance  or  the  details  of  it.  He  sets 
himself  to  restrain  that  which  might  give  occasion 
for  wicked  states,  covetous,  dejected,  to  flow  in 
over  him,  were  he  to  dwell  unrestrained  as  to  the 
sense  of  sight.  He  keeps  watch  over  this  faculty 
of  sight  and  attains  to  mastery  over  it.  And  so 
in  like  manner  when  he  hears  a  sound  with  the 
ear,  .  .  .  smells  an  odor  with  the  nose,  .  .  . 
tastes  a  sapid  with  the  tongue,  .  .  .  feels  a 
tangible  with  the  body,  .  .  .  recognizes  an  idea 
with  the  mind,  he  is  not  entranced  with  the  gen- 
eral appearance  and  the  details  of  it.  He  sets 
himself  to  restrain  that  which  might  give  occasion 
for  wicked  states,  covetous,  dejected,  to  flow  over 
him,  were  he  to  dwell  unrestrained  as  to  the 
mental  faculty.  He  keeps  watch  over  the  mental 
faculty  and  attains  to  mastery  over  it.  That 
these  six  faculties  should  thus  be  guarded,  tended, 
watched  over,  restrained  is  what  is  called  having 
the   doors    of   the   faculties   guarded."^     This   is 

^  From  A  Buddhist  Manual  of  Psychological  Ethics.  Transla- 
tion of  the  Abhidhamma  Pitaka  from  the  original  Pali,  by  Caro- 
line Rhys  Davids. 


130  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

typical  Buddhism,  and  good  psychology  as  far  as  it 
goes,  but  there  is  an  entire  absence  of  the  positive 
note,  quite  a  general  characteristic  of  the  teach- 
ings of  the  faith,  for  we  turn  over  other  leaves  and 
read  in  the  same  strain,  "What  is  moral  progress? 
Absence  of  excess  in  deed,  in  word  and  in  deed 
and  word  together.  "^  However,  in  fairness  we 
must  note  an  occasional  reference  like  the  follow- 
ing which  points  toward  the  principle  of  over- 
coming evil  with  good:  "What  is  friendship  with 
good?  To  follow  after,  frequent  the  company  of 
and  associate  with,  such  persons  as  are  believers, 
virtuous,  well  educated,  generous,  and  intellectual, 
to  resort  to  and  consort  with  them,  to  be  devoted 
to  them,  enthusiastic  about  them,  mixed  up  with 
them."^ 

On  still  another  one  of  these  palm  leaves  we 
get  a  vivid  revelation  of  the  contempt  in  which 
Buddhist  scholars  hold  our  Occidental  tendency 
to  seek  philosophic  explanation.  Incidentally 
also  we  get  once  more  a  typical  Buddhist  view  of 
the  limitations  of  human  knowledge.  "What  is 
the  grasping  after  speculative  opinion?  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  alms,  or  sacrifice,  or  offering; 
there  is  neither  fruit  nor  result  of  good,  or  of  evil 
deeds;  there  is  no  such  thing  as  this  world  or  the 
next;  there  is  no  such  thing  as  mother  or  father 
or    beings    springing    into    birth    without    them; 

2  From  A  Buddhist  Manual  of  Psychological  Ethics.  Transla- 
tion of  the  Abhidhamma  Pitaka  from  the  original  Pali,  by  Caro- 
line Rhys  Davids. 

3  Ibid. 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  131 

there  are  in  the  world  no  rechises  or  brahmans 
who  have  reached  the  highest  point,  who  have 
attained  the  height,  who,  having  understood  and 
reahzed  by  themselves  alone  both  this  world  and 
the  next,  make  known  the  same — all  this  sort  of 
speculation,  this  walking  in  opinion,  scuffling  of 
opinion,  this  fetter  of  opinion,  the  grip  and  ten- 
acity of  it,  the  inclination  toward  it,  the  being 
infected  by  it,  this  bypath,  wrong  road,  wrongness, 
this  'fording  place,'  this  shiftiness  of  grasp — 
this  is  what  is  called  grasping  after  speculative 
opinion."^ 

In  keeping  with  the  attitude  reflected  in  this  last 
quotation,  the  Three  Pitakas  are  not  regarded  as 
containing  in  any  sense  special  revelations  of 
truth.  Therefore  there  is  no  appeal  to  their 
authority  as  the  infallible  guide  of  life.  The 
teachings  carefully  gathered  and  edited  are  of- 
fered simply  for  what  they  are  worth  as  judged 
by  individual  reason  and  conscience.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  Pitakas  there  is  a  large  body  of  writ- 
ings, consisting  of  stories,  commentaries,  and 
philosophic  essays,  that  also  go  to  form  a  part  of 
the  sacred  literature  of  Buddhism  and  upon 
which  its  practical  teachings  are  based.  Copies 
of  most  of  these  important  books  are  to  be  found 
in  the  splendid  library  in  the  tower  of  the  Temple 
of  the  Tooth,  and  others  are  being  added  as  fast 
as  the  funds,  collected  by  popular  subscriptions, 
increase. 

<  Ibid. 


13^  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Two  Interesting  Conversations 

The  climax  of  the  ceremonies  in  connection 
with  the  Feast  of  the  Full  Moon  came  in  the  even- 
ing, when  a  special  service  was  held  in  an  open 
building  in  the  temple  ground.  With  the  thou- 
sands of  little  candles  burning  before  the  numer- 
ous shrines,  the  ceaseless  beating  of  the  drum, 
the  hundreds  of  worshipers  praying  before  the 
various  images  of  Buddha,  and  the  light  of  the 
clear,  full  moon  bathing  the  whole  scene  in  a 
matchless  splendor,  the  setting  was  indeed  excep- 
tional for  a  study  of  this  great  faith  as  it  is  actually 
practiced  by  the  people.  As  we  stood  watching 
the  scene  under  a  spreading  bo-tree  near  an 
image  of  Buddha  in  meditation,  a  young  lawyer, 
who  had  a  good  mastery  of  English,  engaged  us 
in  conversation.  This  earnest  Buddhist  had  read 
widely,  and,  unlike  the  crowds  moving  past  us, 
could  give  some  reasons  for  the  faith  that  was 
in  him. 

After  he  had  explained  the  underlying  philo- 
sophy of  Buddhism  and  some  of  its  peculiar 
doctrines,  we  inquired,  "What  is  Nirvana?" 
''Nirvana,"  said  he,  "is  the  scent  in  the  clothes- 
press  after  the  camphor  has  been  removed." 
His  quaint  reply  gives  one  a  good  idea  of  the  in- 
tangible nature  of  the  doctrine,  for  while  Buddhist 
scholars  would  not  be  willing  to  admit  that 
Nirvana  was  a  state  of  complete  annihilation,  yet 
they  could  scarcely  argue  that  there  was  any 
element  of  consciousness  worthy  of  the  name  in 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  133 

connection  with  this  ideal  condition  toward  which 
they  so  earnestly  strive.  Another  incident  in 
the  course  of  this  discussion  reveals,  however,  the 
cruder  view  of  the  common  people.  An  old  man 
made  his  way  to  the  bo-tree  where  we  were 
standing,  and,  breaking  into  the  conversation, 
inquired  of  the  lawyer,  "What  is  this  young  man 
saying?"  The  lawyer  replied,  "He  says  he 
believes  that  each  of  us  is  an  eternal  soul,  and 
that  after  death  this  soul  still  lives  in  an  im- 
mortal state."  "What  nonsense!"  exclaimed  the 
venerable  Buddhist.  "Tell  him  to  go  over  to 
vonder  candle  and  blow  out  the  flame.  So  it  is 
with  human  life  when  death  comes." 

Presently  the  conversation  turned  to  the  world- 
old  problem  of  permanence  and  change,  the 
lawyer  contending  for  a  causeless  beginning  of 
things,  though,  like  other  thinkers  of  his  type,  he 
was  soon  lost  in  the  "endless  regress"  from  which 
he  was  unable  to  disengage  himself.  We  talked 
also  of  the  ethical  teachings  of  Buddha  and  of 
the  moral  life  of  the  people.  Here  he  confessed 
that  for  some  reason  or  other  his  faith  did  not 
grip  the  souls  of  men  for  right  living  as  it  should. 
However,  it  ought  to  be  said  in  justice  that  the 
Buddhists  have  developed  the  virtue  of  kindli- 
ness and  charity  to  a  remarkable  degree.  More- 
over, strange  as  it  may  appear,  there  are  no 
people  anywhere  so  happy  in  disposition  and  so 
optimistic  in  outlook  as  the  Burmese  Buddhists, 
who,  according  to  their  own  doctrine,  expect  prac- 


1S4  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

tical  extinction  as  the  final  goal  of  their  long 
series  of  existences.  There  may,  however,  be 
other  explanations  than  this  effort  to  extinguish 
desire  responsible  for  their  cheerfulness.  In  the 
wealthy  land  of  Burma  most  of  the  people  have  a 
fair  share  of  the  good  things  of  life,  and  careful 
observation  would  also  show  that  the  common 
people,  and  the  majority  of  the  priests,  do  not 
get  very  far  beyond  the  mere  routine  of  ceremonial 
practices  in  their  religion;  so  it  may  be  that  this 
strange  optimism  has  grown  to  some  extent  out 
of  the  very  comforts  of  life  and  their  actual 
ignorance  of  the  real  implications  of  Buddhist 
teachings.  Still,  after  all,  we  find  this  same  care- 
free cheerfulness  among  the  poor  Tibetans  and 
the  intelligent  Japanese,  a  fact  which  may  in- 
dicate that  the  optimism  of  the  Buddhists  has 
some  strange  connection  with  their  doctrine. 

Speaking  of  Christianity,  my  friend  confessed 
that  the  unique  character  of  Jesus  Christ  com- 
manded his  respect  and  expressed  deep  reverence 
for  his  life  and  teachings  as  set  forth  in  the  Gos- 
pels. Of  the  missionary  enterprise  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  he  was  inclined  to  be  rather  critical, 
afiirming  that  the  missionaries  for  the  most  part 
did  not  appear  able,  or  were  at  least  unwilling, 
to  study  the  teachings  of  any  religion  but  their 
own.  He  also  thought  that  they  manifested 
much  intolerance  and  lack  of  sympathy  with 
those  whom  they  looked  upon  as  "heathen." 
The  conversation   finally  closed  about  midnight 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  135 

when  the  lawyer  said:  "Come  again  to-morrow. 
The  great  master-priest  will  be  here  then  and  he 
will  explain  all  things  to  you." 

The  next  morning  we  heard  from  another  in- 
telligent disciple  of  Gotama  here  in  Kandy  the 
story  of  the  modern  awakening  in  Buddhism. 
He  mentioned  the  evangelistic  zeal  and  missionary 
enthusiasm  that  to-day  marks  a  new  epoch  in  the 
faith,  and  said  that  a  kind  of  evangelistic  com- 
mission had  been  organized  to  secure  fresh  con- 
verts. In  this  connection  he  pointed  with  pride 
to  some  Americans  who  had  become  followers  of 
Buddha.  Of  even  more  significance  was  his 
description  of  the  educational  movement  among 
the  Buddhists  of  Ceylon.  Hundreds  of  vernac- 
ular schools  and  many  higher  schools  with  in- 
struction in  English  have  been  established  for 
the  boys  of  this  island,  but  in  all  these  institu- 
tions the  training  is  carefully  shaped  toward  a 
defense  of  the  old  faith  and  a  zealous  cultivation 
of  things  Oriental.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  there  is 
the  beginning  of  another  educational  move- 
ment of  a  specifically  religious  character  intended 
to  ground  the  young  life  of  Ceylon  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  faith  and  thus  to  prevent,  if  possible, 
further  deflections  to  Christianity.  In  the  temple 
grounds  in  the  midst  of  the  crowds  prostrating 
themselves  before  the  numerous  images  of  Buddha 
we  discussed  the  Buddhist  Sunday  school  move- 
ment and  learned  from  this  native  that  not  only 
have  a  number  of  such  schools  already  been  es- 


136  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

tablished  in  the  island,  but  also  that  the  modern 
principles  of  gradation  have  been  adopted  and 
courses  planned  in  the  stories,  symbols,  and 
doctrines  of  the  faith.  In  Japan  likewise  the 
spirit  of  reform  has  turned  toward  plans  for 
holding  the  coming  generation.  A  reliable  au- 
thority^ states  that  the  Nishi  Hong- wan ji,  one 
of  the  sects  of  Buddhism,  has  a  regularly  organ- 
ized Sunday  School  Board,  and  that  aggressive 
efforts  in  behalf  of  childhood  were  begun  at  the 
time  of  the  emperor's  coronation  in  1915.  Within 
six  months  eight  hundred  Buddhist  Sunday 
schools  were  organized.  Moreover,  Christian  Sun- 
day school  literature  is  imitated  and  Christian 
songs  modified  and  adapted  for  the  use  of  these 
schools  by  the  zealous  leaders  of  the  Nishi  Hong- 
wanji.  After  our  informant  at  the  Temple  of  the 
Tooth  had  talked  for  some  time  of  these  and  other 
modern  activities,  we  asked  how  he  accounted  for 
these  recent  changes.  His  answer  was  typically  Ori- 
ental— Buddha  himseK  had  prophesied  this  taking 
on  of  new  life  and  interest.  Lurking  in  the 
recesses  of  our  mind,  however,  was  a  strong 
suspicion  that  the  progress  of  Christian  missions, 
as  well  as  the  prophecies  of  Buddha,  may  have  had 
something  to  do  with  the  matter. 

Two  Remarkable  Images 

Just  outside  the  town  of  Pegu  in  Burma  is  the 
largest  reclining  image  of  Buddha  in  the  world. 

^  The  Rev.  K.  Mito,  Kobe,  Japan. 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  137 

For  years  this  image  was  lost  in  the  jungle,  but 
not  long  since  it  was  discovered,  and  the  British 
government  promised  that  if  the  Buddhists  would 
restore  the  image  the  property  should  be  sacredly 
protected.  This  was  done,  and  to-day  thousands 
of  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  world  marvel  at 
the  colossal  figure  decorated  with  fine  gold  leaf 
and  gorgeous  inlay  work.  This  Buddha  is  one 
hundred  and  eighty-one  feet  in  length,  and 
represents  the  Master  with  his  head  on  a  pillow 
and  an  expression  of  active  satisfaction — which 
does  not  seem  to  reveal  the  extinction  of  all  de- 
sire— on  his  face.  On  either  side  of  the  gateway 
leading  to  the  immense  shed  that  covers  this 
reclining  Buddha  are  two  monster  guardian 
dragons.  The  one  on  the  right  has  no  tongue, 
while  the  one  on  the  left  possesses  this  member 
intact.  The  ready  explanation  of  the  natives  is 
simple,  the  right  hand  figure  is  the  male,  while 
the  other  is  a  female! 

Some  distance  from  this  figure,  in  a  neglected 
spot,  is  another  remarkable  image,  the  only  one 
of  its  kind  in  the  world.  Here  we  have  the 
figure  of  the  Dead  Buddha.  Tradition  says  that 
Gotama  died  from  the  effects  of  eating  pork 
curry,  because  he  did  not  have  the  heart  to  refuse 
the  dish  when  a  brother  priest  offered  it  to  him, 
although  he  knew  that  he  ought  not  to  partake 
of  it.  This  last  episode  in  the  life  of  the  Teacher 
is  portrayed  out  here  in  the  jungle  by  means  of 
a  series  of  groups,  the  climax  of  which  is  the  Dead 


138  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Buddha.  In  the  first  group  we  see  a  green  figure 
of  Mara  (Satan)  tempting  him  to  eat  the  curry. 
Then  there  is  a  group  of  astrologers  talking  the 
matter  over.  Another  group  shows  a  close 
friend  returning  to  the  sick  bed  with  a  vessel  of 
water.  Lastly  there  is  the  prostrate  figure  of 
the  Teacher  as  he  lies  dead  in  the  midst  of  a 
group  of  adoring  followers.  The  physician  is 
sitting  there  too,  with  a  far-away  look  in  his 
eyes.  We  asked  what  he  was  doing,  and  our 
priest-guide  replied,  "O,  he  is  so  surprised  over 
the  failure  of  his  medicine  that  he  has  gone  off 
into  a  trance." 

A  Visit  to  a  Monastery 

The  Buddhist  priest  is  easily  recognized  wher- 
ever one  meets  him,  in  India,  Burma  or  Ceylon. 
His  head  is  always  closely  shaven  and  his  robes 
are  generally  of  a  dark  and  dingy  yellow  or  orange 
color.  As  soon  as  a  priest  gives  himself  to  this 
work  he  ceases  then  and  there  to  handle  money, 
and  begins  to  beg  his  food  and  clothing  from 
philanthropic  laymen.  The  rules  in  this  regard 
are  very  strict  and  are  apparently  obeyed  to  the 
letter.  One  day  we  saw  four  Buddhist  priests 
board  a  street  car  and  watched  rather  curiously 
to  see  how  they  would  manage  the  matter  of  car- 
fare. They  were  prepared  for  the  occasion,  how- 
ever, for  accompanying  them  was  a  little  boy  who 
handled  the  "filthy  lucre"  for  the  whole  crowd. 
In  Malaysia  and  China  priests  fully  ordained  are 


THE    "hearse"    at    A    PRIEST 's    FUNERAX, 


A    BUDDHIST    SHRINE    IX    PROCESS    OF    CONSTRUCTION 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  139 

marked  with  six  or  eight  httle  white  scars  arranged 
like  domino  spots  on  the  tops  of  their  heads.  In 
the  ordination  ceremony  while  the  priest  is 
kneehng,  pieces  of  incense  are  placed  on  his  head 
and  ignited.  If  he  moves  a  muscle  or  cries  with 
pain  as  they  burn  their  way  through  the  hair  and 
flesh  to  the  bone  of  the  skull,  he  is  judged  unfit 
for  the  office.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  faces  the 
ordeal  bravely,  the  scars  on  his  head  ever  after- 
ward constitute  his  ordination  credentials.  In 
Burma  we  had  the  privilege  of  visiting  a  mon- 
astery, and  found  the  priests,  some  twenty- 
five  in  number,  very  polite  and  cordial.  The 
building  was  situated  some  miles  from  the  town 
in  a  grove  of  trees,  and  on  this  particular  day  the 
place  was  crowded  with  people  who  had  come 
for  miles  to  attend  the  funeral  of  one  of  the  priests. 
Inside  the  monastery  we  found  one  large  room 
in  which  evidently  the  priests  ate,  slept,  and 
studied.  There  was  an  entire  absence  of  furni- 
ture, and  everything  seemed  to  be  bare  and  un- 
inviting. 

Near  the  entrance  to  the  monastery  stood  the 
huge  figure  of  an  elephant  made  of  cloth  and 
bamboo  and  mounted  on  a  wagon.  On  his 
back  was  a  box  containing  the  body  of  the  dead 
priest,  which  had  been  embalmed  in  honey  for 
a  month.  The  funeral,  which  lasted  three  days, 
had  been  made  a  gay  occasion,  and  out  in  the 
open  spaces  before  the  monastery  numerous 
booths  had  been  erected  in  which   informal  re- 


140  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

ceptions  were  in  progress.  We  were  invited  by 
the  head  man  of  the  village  to  make  ourselves  at 
home  in  his  booth,  where  he  presented  us  with 
some  huge  Burmese  cigars  and  treated  us  to  music 
on  a  Victrola.  Offerings  of  rice  pots,  and  various 
elaborate  conveyances,  on  which  by  turns  the 
body  was  to  be  drawn  around  the  funeral  pyre, 
had  been  presented  by  different  villages,  each 
endeavoring  to  outdo  the  other  in  its  gift.  On  the 
third  day  of  the  funeral  exercises  the  body  was 
placed  on  the  top  of  a  high  tower  constructed  of 
bamboo  and  gaily  decorated  with  colored  tissue 
paper,  which,  after  some  ceremony,  was  ignited, 
and  the  body  thus  cremated. 

On  the  Roof  of  the  World 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  developments  of 
Buddhism  is  the  Tibetan  form,  for  beyond  the 
Himalayas  we  find  the  country  completely  in 
the  power  of  this  religion,  while  curious  rites  and 
ceremonies  sharply  distinguish  Lamaism  from 
the  faith  as  it  is  found  in  Ceylon,  Burma, 
Japan,  and  elsewhere.  Most  of  these  peculiar 
characteristics  are,  of  course,  animistic  in  their 
nature  and  not  an  outgrowth  of  the  fundamental 
teachings  of  Buddha,  but  they  are,  nevertheless, 
intensely  interesting.  The  very  mystery  of  Tibet, 
for  so  long  a  closed  country,  and  of  Lhasa,  its 
capital,  the  "Forbidden  City,"  adds  still  greater 
zest  to  our  study  of  Buddhism  on  "the  roof  of  the 
world."     Probably  no  country  is  so  unanimous 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  141 

in  its  faith  as  is  Tibet.  Mr.  John  Claude  White 
says,  "The  number  of  monks  in  Tibet  is  said  to 
be  very  large,  nearly  five  hundred  thousand 
housed  in  ten  hundred  and  twenty-six  mon- 
asteries, and  this  out  of  a  population  of  about 
three  and  one  half  millions  is  a  very  large  pro- 
portion."^ Strange  Lhasa  is  preeminently  a  Budd- 
hist city,  or,  rather,  a  double  city,  situated  in  a 
valley  lying  twelve  thousand  feet  above  sea  level 
with  a  majestic  background  of  picturesque  moun- 
tains. Here  on  Potala  Hill  lives  the  great  Dalai 
Lama,  in  a  palace  of  nearly  five  hundred  rooms, 
that  looks,  on  account  of  its  unique  architecture, 
like  a  gigantic  mansion  dropped  down  from  the 
skies.  Just  at  the  foot  of  the  Hill  is  a  great  set- 
tlement of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
priests.  At  the  other  end  of  the  valley  is  the 
other  division  of  the  city  reserved  for  the  laity, 
in  the  midst  of  which  is  located  the  Great  Temple 
where  annually  eighty  thousand  priests  meet  for 
a  three  weeks'  conference. 

The  services  conducted  from  time  to  time  in 
this  temple  are  of  unique  interest  because  of 
their  striking  similarity  to  those  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  "At  the  sound  of  a  horn  or 
trumpet  the  clergy  assemble  in  the  entrance 
hall,  wearing  the  cloak  and  cap;  and  at  its  third 
blast  the  procession,  with  the  living  Buddha  at 
its  head,  marches   down  the  aisle.     When  he  is 

«  The  National  Geographic  Magazine,  March,  1916.     Article, 
"The  World's  Strangest  Capital."    Page  288. 


142  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

seated  on  his  throne  each  lama  bows  three  times 
before  him  and  then  seats  himself  cross-legged 
on  the  divan  according  to  his  rank.  A  bell  is 
then  rung  and  all  murmur  the  Three  Refuges, 
the  Ten  Precepts,  and  other  formulas.  After 
silence  is  restored  the  bell  sounds  again,  and  the 
priests  now  sing  in  the  choir  longer  pieces  from 
the  sacred  books.  If  it  be  a  feast  day,  the  high- 
est point  of  the  service  is  reached  in  the  Tuisol, 
or  prayer  for  sanctification,  when  the  offerings 
are  blest.  A  bell  is  rung  and  all  the  monks  burst 
out  into  a  hymn  of  prayer  for  the  presence  of 
the  spirit  of  all  the  Buddhas.  One  of  them 
raises  aloft  over  his  head  a  looking-glass,  the 
idea  of  which  seems  to  be  to  catch  the  image 
of  the  spirit  as  it  comes;  a  second  raises  aloft  a 
jug;  a  third,  the  mystic  symbol  of  the  world; 
a  fourth  a  cup;  and  others,  other  sacred  vessels 
or  mystic  symbols.  Meanwhile  the  voices  of 
the  singers  and  the  sound  of  the  bells  and  drums 
and  trumpets  grow  louder  and  louder,  and  the 
church  is  filled  with  incense  from  the  sacred 
censers.  The  monk  with  the  jug  pours  several 
times  water  mixed  with  sugar  and  saffron  over 
the  mirror,  which  another  wipes  each  time  with 
a  napkin  of  silk.  The  water  flows  over  the  mir- 
ror on  to  the  symbol  of  the  world  and  is 
caught  in  the  cup  beneath.  Then  the  holy  mixture 
is  poured  on  to  another  jug  and  a  drop  or  two 
is  allowed  to  trickle  on  to  the  hands  of  each  of 
the  worshiping  monks,  who  marks  the  crown  of 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  145 

his  shaven  head,  his  forehead  and  his  breast  with 
the  sacred  Hquid.  He  then  reverently  swallows 
the  remaining  drops;  and,  in  so  doing,  beheves 
himself  to  be  mystically  swallowing  a  part  of  the 
Divine  Being  whose  image  has  been  caught  in 
the  mirror  over  which  the  water  has  past."' 

It  was  not  our  privilege,  of  course,  to  pass  over 
the  border  into  this  mysterious  country,  but  in 
Darjeeling,  nestled  under  the  giant  Himalayas  on 
the  Indian  side,  one  also  finds  Lamaism  in  its 
native  form,  for  many  Tibetans  have  made  the 
perilous  journey  through  the  dangerous  passes  of 
these  mountain  barriers  and  have  taken  up  their 
abode  in  that  city.  These  people  are  very  re- 
ligious, at  least  in  a  formal  sense,  as  is  attested 
by  the  thousands  of  long  banners  set  up  in  verti- 
cal position  on  poles,  trees,  fences,  and  even  on 
the  bushes  by  the  roadside.  As  one  makes  his 
way  on  the  miniature  mountain  railway  toward 
the  city  of  Darjeeling  he  wonders  whether  some 
great  event  is  not  being  celebrated,  for  every- 
where these  banners  flutter  in  the  w^ind.  It  is 
no  ephemeral  celebration,  however,  for  thousands 
of  prayers  are  being  silently  spoken  as  these  strips 
of  cloth  wave  back  and  forth  in  the  breezes. 
Then  there  are  the  prayer- wheels.  The  merchant 
sits  before  his  shop  whirling  his  wheel,  inside  of 
which  is  a  long  strip  of  paper  with  numerous 
prayers  recorded  thereon.  The  housewife  whirls 
her  prayer- wheel.     Round  and  round  in  endless 

'  Buddhism,  by  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  pp.  249,  250. 


144  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

monotony  these  wheels  are  turned,  every  revolu- 
tion representing  a  petition.  One  morning  we 
made  our  way  down  the  steep  hillside  to  see  a 
Buddhist  temple.  Here  were  more  banners,  a 
great  forest  of  them,  at  the  entrance  to  the  temple 
grounds.  And  there  were  more  prayer- wheels  too. 
Just  outside  the  temple  was  an  enormous  one 
run  by  water.  In  the  case  of  some  others  the 
motive  powder  was  the  wind.  Some  day  doubt- 
less we  shall  find  the  priests  taking  advantage  of 
the  new  scientific  discoveries  of  the  age  in  the 
application  of  electricity  to  their  worship.  Then 
the  traveler  may  run  across  prayer-wheels  whose 
power  is  furnished  by  electric  motors,  thus  typi- 
fying the  complete  dominance  of  the  realm  of 
the  mechanical  over  that  of  the  spiritual.  Nor 
would  this  be  an  illogical  outcome  of  Buddhist 
teachings.  Inside  the  temple  we  found  a  strange 
jumble  of  images  of  Buddha,  paintings,  various 
trinkets,  and  little  shrines.  As  we  were  leaving, 
the  priest  in  charge  hinted  strongly  for  a  fee, 
which  he  finally  received. 

So  everywhere  in  Darjeeling  there  are  evidences 
of  prayer,  but  it  should  be  understood  that 
prayer  in  the  Tibetan  sense  is  a  very  mechanical 
sort  of  exercise,  and  also  that  it  is  looked  upon 
as  a  kind  of  magic,  by  means  of  which  the  evils 
of  life  somehow  can  be  prevented  from  falling 
upon  the  worshiper.  One  day  we  were  making 
a  purchase  in  one  of  the  shops  on  the  main  street 
of  this  city  when  a  woman  with  her  little  child 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  145 

came  in  and  at  once  manifested  considerable 
interest  in  the  transaction.  Noticing  a  peculiar 
cloth-covered  charm  about  the  child's  neck,  we 
offered  to  buy  it.  At  once  the  mother  became 
highly  indignant,  and  even  frightened,  lest  the 
child  should  lose  this  magic  symbol  and  thus 
invite  some  terrible  disaster.  While  the  con- 
versation was  going  on,  however,  we  slyly  pulled 
open  a  loose  end  of  the  cloth  covering  the  charm 
and  disclosed  a  photographic  film  can,  upon 
which  was  the  name  of  a  famous  Rochester,  New 
York,  firm.  Thus  was  the  commonplace  blessed 
into  sacredness  by  this  Buddhist  mother. 

At  three  o'clock  one  winter  morning  we  started 
up  Tiger  Hill  with  a  jolly  group  of  these  Tibetans 
to  see  Mount  Everest.  The  "Hill"  is  more  than 
five  thousand  feet  above  sea  level  and  affords  a 
splendid  view  of  the  majestic  Himalayas,  pro- 
vided the  weather  is  clear,  which  is  the  case 
this  time  of  year  only  about  one  day  in  ten. 
However,  this  particular  day  was  an  auspicious 
one,  for  the  stars  were  shining  brightly,  and  in 
spite  of  the  early  hour  and  the  cold  these  chair- 
bearers  were  in  the  happiest  of  moods,  cracking 
jokes  and  singing  in  their  strange  native  tongue 
almost  every  step  of  the  weary  climb.  At  last 
we  arrived  on  the  summit  of  the  Hill  and  found 
there  hundreds  of  "prayers"  fluttering  in  the 
breeze.  It  was  almost  six  o'clock.  Slowly  the 
east  began  to  grow  a  pale  pink.  The  pink  merged 
gradually  into  a  red,  and  off  to  the  west  the  dim 


146  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

outlines  of  snow  began  to  appear  like  ridges  of 
clouds  without  visible  earthly  attachment.  Pres- 
ently the  sky  became  lighter  and  the  mountains 
still  more  distinct  to  the  view.  Then  the  sun,  like 
a  great  glowing  ball  of  fire,  moved  slowly  upward 
on  the  distant  horizon,  and  there  across  the  vast 
abyss  we  saw  the  roof  of  the  world!  Away  to 
the  left  was  Mount  Everest  with  its  snow-crowned 
peak  lifted  more  than  twenty-nine  thousand  feet 
into  space.  Just  opposite  stood  majestic  Kinchin- 
janga,  nearly  as  high,  with  a  great  rent  of  bare 
rock  cleaving  its  white  summit  in  twain.  The 
vastness  and  splendor  of  the  scene  created  a  fresh 
and  vivid  sense  of  the  infinite.  The  indescribable 
beauty  of  the  shifting  colors  on  the  dazzling  snow, 
the  awful  immensity,  the  silent  grandeur  stirred 
the  emotions  to  their  very  depths  and  inspired 
spontaneous  praise  to  the  Creator  of  all  the 
earth.  In  the  midst  of  this  mood  of  worship  we 
heard  the  weird  strains  of  a  wild  Tibetan  chant 
and,  turning,  saw  one  of  the  bearers  standing 
alone  on  a  slight  elevation  facing  the  wonderful 
scene  and  singing  a  Buddhist  temple  hymn. 
For  the  moment  both  Christian  and  Buddhist 
were  lifted  above  the  limitations  of  creed  in  a 
common  vision  of  the  power  and  majesty  of  the 
Eternal  God  and  Father  of  us  all,  and  once 
more  the  conviction  that  the  Infinite  has  "left 
not  himself  without  witness"  anywhere  in  this  vast 
world  was  freshly  reenforced. 


A    GROUP    OF    TIBETANS    OX     TIGER     HILL 


A     Hl'DDHLST     PKAVER     WHEKL 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  147 

Buddhism  in  China  and  Japan 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  Buddhist  mis- 
sionary propaganda  reached  China  during  the 
second  century  before  Christ,  subsequently  was 
carried  to  Korea,  and  finally  to  Japan.  In  these 
countries,  especially  in  China,  with  the  passing 
years  the  faith  became  so  changed  by  the  influ- 
ence of  animistic  elements  that  to-day  it  is  scarcely 
recognizable  as  the  original  Buddhism  of  India. 
Moreover,  although  nominally  about  two  thirds 
of  the  Chinese  are  followers  of  Gotama,  the 
densest  ignorance  as  to  his  teachings  prevails 
not  only  among  the  laity  but  even  among  the 
priestly  leaders  themselves.  Added  to  this  fact 
we  also  must  remember  that  in  China  a  man 
may  with  perfect  consistency  profess  two  or  three 
religions  at  the  same  time.  Therefore  the  Bud- 
dhism of  China  is  scarcely  true  enough  even  to 
the  bare  essentials  of  the  faith  to  deserve  the 
name.  Here  opposition  to  superstitious  rites  and 
materialistic  tendencies,  as  well  as  the  strong 
ethical  emphasis  of  the  Master,  is  quite  generally 
wanting  and  Buddhism  has  become  spectacular 
and  formal.  Contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Gotama, 
a  well-defined  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  soul 
has  developed  among  the  Chinese  and  the  Bud- 
dhas  have  gradually  taken  on  the  character  of 
gods,  while  for  the  doctrine  of  Nirvana  has  been 
substituted  a  belief  in  the  materialistic  "Paradise 
of  the  West."  In  keeping  with  this  tendency  also, 
we  find  the  Chinese  priests  shifting  responsibility 


148  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

in  the  matter  of  salvation  from  complete  reliance 
upon  one's  own  efforts  to  a  lazy  dependence 
upon  the  celestial  Buddhas  or  gods.  Thus  in  place 
of  the  stern  duty  ethics  of  the  Master  we  find  a 
program  of  ritualistic  observances  and  debasing 
superstitions.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  more 
than  a  small  minority  of  the  Buddhist  priests  of 
China  have  any  clear  understanding  of  the  prob- 
lem that  the  Great  Teacher  faced  or  of  his  pro- 
posed solution. 

In  Canton  one  day  we  visited  the  great  TempiC 
of  Five  Hundred  Ahrants.  Here  are  represented 
in  life-size  form  ^Ye  hundred  worthies  who  have 
won  mental  illumination.  Before  each  is  a  pot 
in  which  incense  sticks  are  kept  burning  as  a  form 
of  continuous  worship.  Among  these  Ahrants  is 
one  lone  European,  Marco  Polo,  the  great  pioneer 
traveler  in  the  Far  East.  We  had  the  privilege 
of  meeting  the  priest  in  charge  of  this  temple 
that  day  and  proposed  to  take  his  photograph. 
He  was  very  polite  but  thoroughly  frightened, 
for  he  explained  that  if  his  picture  were  taken, 
the  experience  might  mean  his  death,  and  after- 
ward punishment  in  hell.  After  some  discussion, 
however,  we  offered  him  a  dime  provided  he 
would  pose  for  the  photograph.  At  this  his  face 
became  a  study,  for  he  was  evidently  torn  be- 
tween greed  for  gain  and  a  desire  "to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come."  In  the  end,  however,  with 
much  fear  and  trembling,  like  thousands  of 
ordinary    sinners,   he    chose    the    way   of    pres- 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  149 

ent  materialistic   gain  and  risked  his  future  wel- 
fare. 

In  the  great  Lama  Temple  in  the  capital  city 
of  Peking  the  extent  of  this  deterioration  of 
Buddhism  is  even  more  manifest.  In  one  of  the 
great,  dark  temple  halls  they  showed  us  the 
trinity  of  Buddhas,  before  each  of  which  was  a 
table  with  vessels  of  the  most  beautiful  cloisonne 
ware.  The  attendant  also  brought  out  numerous 
small  Buddhas  of  rare  workmanship  and  material 
from  their  little  shrines  and  in  whispers  began  to 
bargain  and  explain  that  he  might  steal  one  of 
them  from  the  temple  if  we  desired  to  buy.  Every- 
where there  were  begging  priests,  but  one  look 
into  their  shrewd,  degenerate  faces  was  enough 
to  convince  the  traveler  that  thev  had  no  con- 
victions,  but  were  in  the  profession  simply  for  a 
livelihood.  In  another  hall  in  these  same  grounds 
is  a  gigantic  image  of  Buddha  entirely  different 
from  any  other  in  the  world.  It  represents  him 
as  cruel  and  threatening,  with  none  of  the  calm 
and  benevolence  of  the  meditating  figures.  This 
image,  which  is  about  sixty  feet  high,  is  said  to 
have  been  carved  out  of  a  single  piece  of  sandal 
wood  and  is  a  real  marvel  of  its  kind,  but  it 
does  not  in  the  least  degree  represent  true 
Buddhism. 

In  still  another  hall  in  connection  with  the 
Lama  Temple  one  can  see  for  a  consideration  the 
seamy  side  of  this  religion.  Here  in  images  and 
pictures    are    representations    of    the    vilest    sort 


150  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

which  the  priests  connect  with  the  history  and 
teachings  of  the  faith.  In  justice  to  Buddhism, 
however,  it  should  be  said  that  in  this  instance 
only  did  we  see  any  evidence  of  sensuality  in 
relation  to  the  faith  in  all  the  countries  where 
it  is  represented. 

In  the  great  assembly  hall  of  the  Lama  Temple 
the  day  of  our  visit  they  were  holding  a  great 
convention  of  lama  priests,  many  representatives 
having  come  from  far  away  Tibet  to  take  part 
in  the  meeting.  We  were  allowed  to  enter  the 
building  and  to  walk  about  the  aisles  and  open 
spaces  during  the  exercises.  There  were  numerous 
very  old  men  there,  but  also  some  mere  boys  of 
thirteen  or  fourteen  vears.  The  head  lama 
stood  in  a  conspicuous  place  and  kept  endlessly 
intoning  the  ritual,  with  now  and  then  a  response 
from  the  crowd  of  priests.  Occasionally  also  the 
leader  sounded  a  gong,  which  seemed  to  indicate 
an  especially  sacred  period  in  the  service.  The 
sum  total  of  the  proceedings  during  our  rather 
long  stay  in  the  Lama  Temple  seemed  to  be  just 
this  monotonous  recitation  of  ritual.  Some  of 
the  younger  priests  themselves  even  appeared  to 
be  weary  of  it  all,  and  were  lolling  over  their  hard 
benches  or  whispering  to  each  other,  while  many 
of  the  older  ones  simply  sat  in  a  dull,  dazed  fashion, 
as  if  enduring  some  incomprehensible  jumble  of 
mere  words. 

In  Japan  also  Buddhism  has  undergone  many 
modifications,  though  not  to  the  extent  or  along 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  151 

the  same  lines  as  in  China,  for  in  the  Island 
Empire  it  appears  "handsome  and  out  of  the 
wet"  compared  with  the  cruder  expressions  char- 
acterizing the  faith  in  the  great  Republic.  Jap- 
anese Buddhism  early  met  and  partly  merged 
with  other  faiths  and  teachings,  and  in  modern 
times  has  been  subjected  to  a  new  influence  in 
its  contact  with  Christianity  and  Western  civ- 
ilization. How  its  essential  doctrines  will  survive 
under  these  circumstances  remains  still  to  be 
seen.  The  outstanding  emphasis  of  Buddhism  in 
its  pure  form  is  upon  the  passive  attitude  toward 
life  and  its  multitudinous  activities,  and  in  this 
the  faith  is  typically  Oriental.  But  the  Japan  of 
to-day  rapidly  is  being  Westernized,  and  the 
people  are  taking  on  the  energetic  habits  of 
Occidentals  in  almost  every  department  of  their 
complex  life.  In  business,  in  education,  in  gov- 
ernment, and  even  in  religion,  more  and  more 
these  people  are  forsaking  Eastern  ideals  for 
those  of  the  West.  The  whole  movement  thus  is 
affecting  the  influence  of  Gotama's  teachings,  and 
must  continue  increasingly  to  do  so  in  view  of 
the  new  spirit  of  progressiveness  that  character- 
izes the  coming  generation  in  that  land.  This 
Japanese  awakening  to  the  value  of  an  active 
attitude  toward  life,  especially  in  its  bearing  on 
religion,  is  well  revealed  in  the  words  of  Dr. 
Tasuku  Harada,  president  of  Doshisha  Univer- 
ity  in  Kyoto,  in  a  comparison  of  the  Eastern  and 
Western  views   of  life.     He  says:   "Christianity 


152  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

offers  a  positive  view  of  life.  Oriental  religion 
is  on  the  whole  passive,  or  even  pessimistic. 
Contrasted  with  it,  Christianity  gives  us  a  pos- 
itive, optimistic  conception.  It  is  Christianity 
that  has  abolished  the  conception  of  religion  as  a 
dull,  unprogressive,  and  sorrowful  affair.  Through 
the  character  of  the  missionaries  and  the  methods 
of  their  activity  religion  has  come  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  matter  of  active  life.  Thus  the  whole 
idea  of  religion  has  been  changed  in  the  minds 
of  the  Japanese;  especially  have  young  men  been 
impressed  by  this  aspect  of  Christianity  and 
have  been  drawn  towards  it."^ 

The  indigenous  religion  of  Japan  is  Shinto, 
"the  way  of  the  gods,"  a  faith  very  loosely  con- 
ceived and  practiced.  It  has  no  body  of  very 
definite  teachings  and  is  even  less  exacting  as 
to  practice.  Perhaps  it  can  best  be  defined  on 
the  side  of  theory  as  a  mixture  of  animism,  an- 
cestor worship,  and  patriotism.  The  most  im- 
portant deity  of  the  faith  is  the  Sun  Goddess, 
from  whom  have  descended  in  unbroken  line  the 
Mikados  of  Japan.  Its  moral  teachings  are  like- 
wise few.  One  is  exhorted  to  follow  his  own 
natural  impulses  and  to  be  obedient  to  the  state 
authorities,  especially  to  the  Mikado  himself. 
There  are  scarcely  any  services  held  in  connection 
with  the  practice  of  the  cult,  and  such  as  do 
take  place  consist  largely  in  the  presentation  in 

8  The  Faith  of  Japan,  by  Tasuku  Harada,  LL.D.,  pp.  176,  177. 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  153 

the  temples  of  offerings  of  food  by  priests,  or  even 
young  girl  priestesses,  and  the  recitation  of  ad- 
dresses. There  are  really  two  types  of  Shinto — 
one,  the  official  or  state  religion  that  emphasizes 
the  veneration  of  Imperial  ancestors  and  expresses 
itself  on  important  patriotic  occasions,  and  the 
popular  faith  with  which  is  mingled  considerable 
superstition.  The  followers  of  this  everyday 
religion  are  divided  into  more  than  fifty  sects 
and  subsects.  The  teachings  of  Confucius  in 
addition  to  Shinto,  and  scarcely  competing  with 
it  in  any  sense,  have  profoundly  influenced  the 
Japanese,  for  from  him  they  have  drawn  prac- 
tically all  of  their  ethical  principles,  and  in  addi- 
tion have  reenforced  their  original  Shinto  by 
embodying  therein  his  exhortations  on  the  ven- 
eration of  ancestors. 

Buddhism  came  indirectly  to  Japan  by  way  of 
Korea  when  one  of  the  kings  of  that  country  sent 
a  present  in  the  form  of  an  image  of  Buddha 
and  some  of  the  sacred  literature  of  the  sect  to 
the  emperor  of  Japan.  This  was  about  A.  D.  552. 
The  two  leading  parties  of  the  government  at 
once  divided  on  the  question  of  receiving  the 
new  faith,  with  the  final  result  that  the  Soga 
family,  who  had  espoused  the  cause  of  Buddhism, 
triumphed.  Later  in  Shotoku-Taishi  the  new 
faith  found  a  most  zealous  advocate.  This  prince 
wrote  and  spoke  most  earnestly  in  favor  of  Bud- 
dhism, and  to  him  much  of  the  credit  belongs 
for  the  firm  establishment  of  the  faith.     In  the 


154  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

ninth  century  a  shrewd  Buddhist  priest  declared 
that  all  the  great  gods  and  heroes  of  Shintoism 
were  really  Buddhas,  and  by  this  compromise 
completed  the  practical  merging  of  the  two  re- 
ligions. As  has  already  been  hinted,  and  in  view 
of  this  absorption  of  the  deities  of  Shintoism, 
Buddhism  went  far  astray  in  Japan  from  the 
pure  teachings  of  its  founder.  Animistic  super- 
stitions, idolatry,  and  a  pantheon  of  numerous 
gods  and  goddesses,  besides  elaborate  ceremonies 
and  complex  rituals,  were  some  of  the  excrescences 
that  developed  rapidly  and  helped  to  popularize 
the  imported  faith.  As  one  might  infer  from  this 
fact,  there  are  no  distinct  lines  of  demarkation 
separating  Shinto,  Confucianism  and  Buddhism  in 
Japan.  The  fact  is  that  the  three  have  been 
quite  welded  together  and  their  essential  differ- 
ences are  looked  upon  simply  as  of  a  supplementary 
character.  Therefore,  multitudes  of  the  people 
are  found  professing,  not  one  faith  only,  but  two, 
and  even  all  three  at  the  same  time.  Such  an 
attitude,  however,  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the 
nature  of  the  Oriental  mind. 

But,  after  all.  Buddhism  has  had  a  very  vigor- 
ous development  and  has  been  a  most  important 
factor  in  molding  the  distinctive  spirit  of  Japan. 
Images  of  Buddha  in  meditation  are  to  be  found 
everywhere  and  splendid  temples  abound  through- 
out the  land.  In  the  beautiful  city  of  Nara,  the 
ancient  capital  of  the  country,  we  saw  the  famous 
Daibutsu  in   the  temple  grounds  of  Todaiji.     In 


A    BUDDHIST     MONASTERY    IN    BURMA 


BUDDHIST    SCHOOL    BOYS    IN     JAPAN 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  155 

spite  of  the  cold  rain  a  large  number  of  pilgrims 
had  come  that  June  day  to  visit  the  shrine  and 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  memory  of  the  Great 
Teacher.  The  Daibutsu  at  Nara  is  the  largest 
sitting  image  of  the  Master  in  the  world,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  the  one  in  Peking  which, 
however,  is  scarcely  a  typical  Buddha.  It  is  more 
than  fifty  feet  high,  the  face  alone  being  sixteen 
feet  long  and  nine  feet  broad.  The  original 
figure  was  erected  in  A.  D.  749,  but  many  repairs 
and  changes  have  been  made  from  time  to  time 
since  that  date.  Just  recently  the  temple  and 
image  have  been  rebeautified  at  a  tremendous 
cost.  The  casting  of  the  Daibutsu  must  have 
taken  much  time  and  patience,  as  well  as  excep- 
tional skill,  for  it  is  constructed  entirely  of  bronze. 
Buddha  sits  there  on  a  great  lotus  blossom  with 
one  hand  uplifted,  the  palm  toward  the  wor- 
shipers, while  on  the  face  there  is  the  usual  ex- 
pressionless calm.  Just  in  front  of  the  gigantic 
figure  that  day  stood  a  Japanese  father  with  his 
little  son.  The  two  conversed  in  reverent  tones 
and  in  the  spirit  of  hearty  comradeship.  By  the 
gestures  of  the  father  it  was  evident  that  he  was 
explaining  in  simple  fashion  the  life  and  teachings 
of  the  Great  Teacher  to  the  boy  by  his  side. 
As  we  were  about  to  leave  the  place  an  attendant 
induced  us  to  purchase  some  wooden  slabs  on 
which  were  written  in  Japanese  our  names  and 
forecasts  of  our  lives.  Thus  fortune-telhng  and 
other  popular  superstitions  flourish  under  the  very 


156  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

shadow  of  the  image  of  one  who  devoted  his 
Hfe  to  combating  ignorance  and  fear. 

There  is  another  Daibutsu,  not  quite  so  large 
as  the  one  at  Nara,  at  Kamakura.  However, 
it  is  a  much  finer  one,  and  is  said  to  symbolize 
most  perfectly  the  teachings  of  Buddhism  in  the 
expression  of  perfect  peace  that  characterizes  the 
face.  The  eyes  are  of  pure  gold,  and  infinite 
pains  were  taken  in  the  construction  of  the 
whole  figure,  that  it  might  be  as  artistically  per- 
fect as  possible.  The  beauty  and  meaning  of 
this  Daibutsu  grows  upon  one  as  he  visits  the 
spot  for  the  second  or  third  time. 

But  the  Buddhism  of  Japan  is  reflected  in  a 
far  more  important  way  than  in  these  colossal 
images  and  the  truly  splendid  temples  of  the 
land.  Even  the  casual  traveler  must  sense  an 
underlying  philosophy  in  the  spirit  of  the  people 
as  it  is  manifested  in  their  everyday  business 
dealings,  their  social  intercourse,  their  education, 
their  patriotism,  and  their  sesthetic  instincts. 
Japan  is  truly  a  land  of  beauty.  Here  art  per- 
meates everything.  During  our  entire  stay  in 
the  country  it  was  difficult  even  for  a  moment 
to  shake  off  the  feeling  that  we  were  in  the  midst 
of  a  dream,  or  in  some  far-off  fairyland.  In  the 
beautiful  temple  grounds  at  Nara,  in  the  ancient 
groves  of  Nikko,  under  the  cherry  blossoms  in 
Yokohama,  even  in  the  little  village  of  Fukuoka, 
as  a  guest  in  the  quaint  native  houses,  or  on  the 
street  passing  the  smiling  men  and  women  and 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  157 


the  wonderful  children,  always  it  was  the  same — 
a  glimpse,  a  hint,  a  short  experience  of  some- 
thing intangible  but  eternally  beautiful.  And 
what  is  the  interpretation  of  this  spirit?  Is  it 
not  to  be  found  in  the  maxim  "Seize  the  day"? 
Buddhism  offers  nothing  in  explanation  of  life 
except  that  which  can  be  understood  through 
the  senses.  It  holds  no  hope  of  existence  beyond 
the  grave.  It  knows  no  god.  Even  the  soul 
is  only  a  series  of  passing  states.  Thus  it  fixes  the 
attention  of  its  followers  on  the  evanescent  joy 
or  beauty  of  the  moment,  but  still  not  in  any 
Epicurean  sense,  for  the  aim  of  existence  is  not 
to  find  life  in  the  fulfillment  of  any  earthly  desire. 
Thus  there  is  developed  a  love  of  the  aesthetic 
that  is  in  a  sense  unselfish,  which  creates  and 
enjoys  the  evanescent  beauty  of  the  now  in 
companionship  with  others  who  likewise  are  on 
their  long  journey  into  the  Mystery. 

In  old  Puritan  New  England  we  find  Japan's 
opposite.  Here,  life  was  cold  and  barren,  and 
instead  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  beautiful  there 
flourished  only  a  rugged  zeal  for  righteousness 
and  a  hope  of  heavenly  reward.  Moreover,  if 
we  look  for  the  explanation  of  the  spirit  of  those 
days,  we  find  it  largely  in  a  theology  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  teachings  of  Buddha.  These 
Puritan  fathers  stressed  the  great  doctrine  of  the 
future  world  and  found  here  only  a  "vale  of  tears," 
through  which  the  soul  must  pass  to  reach  the 
heavenly  city.     Hence  there  was  nothing  worth 


158  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

while  in  itself  so  far  as  this  world  was  concerned, 
and  existence  became  a  drab  monotony.  In 
these  two  instances,  then,  the  importance  of  the 
underlying  philosophy  of  a  people  is  strikingly 
illustrated,  for  the  fundamental  theoretical  view 
of  life  and  its  meaning  is  sure  to  work  out  sooner 
or  later  in  most  concrete  form.  It  may  produce 
a  sad,  superficial  reliance  on  the  fleeting  present 
or  the  hard  suppression  of  legitimate  instincts. 
Hence  the  greatest  and  most  fundamental  of  all 
problems  always  has  been  and  always  must  be  a 
theological  one. 

An  Estimate  of  Buddhism 

Gotama  Buddha  ranks  as  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  men,  for  not  only  did  he  squarely  face 
the  problem  of  existence,  and  apply  the  logic 
of  his  conclusions  rigorously  to  his  own  life  and 
conduct,  but  with  unquestionable  sincerity  he 
loved  his  fellow  men  and  sought  to  release  them 
from  the  common  woes  of  humanity.  For  these 
reasons  Buddhism  deserves  our  careful  considera- 
tion. Moreover,  although  truth  is  not  estab- 
lished by  mere  numbers,  the  fact  that  to-day 
there  are  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  million 
followers  of  this  Teacher  is  of  some  significance, 
and  worthy  of  our  attention.  So  we  turn  in 
conclusion  to  a  brief  analysis  of  the  points  of 
strength  and  weakness  that  characterize  this 
great  world-religion. 

In  seeking  to  judge  the  worth  of  Buddhism  both 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  159 

from  the  standpoint  of  theory  and  practice,  it 
is  exceedingly  refreshing  to  have  to  deal  with  a 
system  that  is  clear-cut  and  definite,  rather  than 
with  the  hazy  and  often  contradictory  teachings 
of  Hinduism,  for  example.  Buddhism  is  the  most 
intellectually  respectable  of  all  the  indigenous 
religions  of  the  Far  East  and  has  many  points 
of  real  strength.  To  begin  with,  it  possesses  the 
scientific  spirit.  Gotama  was  resolved  to  deal 
only  with  facts  as  he  understood  facts.  There- 
fore, he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  meta- 
physics or  speculative  theories.  The  "modern 
scientific  attitude,"  then,  is  not  modern  at  all, 
for  no  scientist  of  to-day  has  ever  held  himself 
more  closely  to  his  data  than  did  Gotama  Buddha 
over  five  hundred  years  before  Christ  was  born. 

In  keeping  with  this  spirit,  we  find  him  em- 
phasizing the  truth  that  this  world  is  one  of 
strict  law  and  order,  not  only  in  the  material 
world  but  in  the  realm  of  mind  as  well.  Con- 
sequently, he  eliminated  almost  entirely  the 
mystical  element  from  his  teachings,  and  thus 
cleared  the  system  at  the  start  of  Hindu  fanat- 
icism. His  path  of  faith  became  the  way  of  the 
golden  mean,  for,  on  the  one  hand,  he  denounced 
with  vigor  the  fallacy  that  life  is  to  be  found  in 
the  satisfaction  of  the  senses,  and  on  the  other, 
with  equal  vigor,  that  it  was  to  be  found  in 
the  practice  of  asceticism. 

Salvation,  he  said,  lay  not  in  externals,  but  in 
a  state  of  mind,  and  therefore  rituals,  spectacular 


160  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

services,  and  other  outside  aids  were  worthless 
so  far  as  permanent  deHverance  was  concerned. 
Out  of  all  this  grew  a  splendid  system  of  ethics. 
Benevolence,  patience,  humility,  purity,  and  con- 
templation are  urged  upon  those  who  would 
follow  the  Eightfold  Path  to  Nirvana;  and,  what- 
ever may  be  said  as  to  the  failure  on  the  side 
of  the  practical  realization  of  these  virtues,  no 
critic  can  find  fault  with  such  moral  ideals. 

Still  another  very  important  element  of  strength 
lay  in  Buddha's  proclamation  of  a  new  democracy. 
He  struck  without  compromise  at  the  elements 
that  hardened  later  on  into  the  Indian  caste  sys- 
tem, and  proclaimed  equality  for  all.  Here  in 
Buddhism,  then,  was  found  a  common  brother- 
hood without  any  distinctions.  We  can  scarcely 
imagine  what  such  a  teaching  meant  to  the  op- 
pressed of  those  days.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
ignorant,  the  poor,  the  persecuted,  flocked  to 
this  new  Teacher.  And  yet,  strange  to  say,  the 
system  appealed  even  more  strongly  to  the 
aristocracy,  so  that  nearly  all  of  the  early  leaders 
were  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  wealth,  and  even 
of  royalty. 

Such  are  some  of  the  elements  of  strength 
characterizing  the  faith,  but  there  are  also  cer- 
tain fundamental  weaknesses  that  must  not  be 
overlooked.  Buddhism  is  in  theory  agnostic,  but 
its  logic  leads  straight  to  the  atheistic  plane,  and 
there  it  must,  of  course,  be  judged.  While  Gotama 
professed  to  deal  only  with  facts  and  to  be  free 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  161 

in  his  thinking  from  the  dreadful  disease  of 
"opinion,"  yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  with  naive 
dehberation  he  drags  into  his  discussions  con- 
siderable a  priori  philosophy.  It  is,  to  be  sure, 
the  negative  attitude  of  atheism,  but  it  is  never- 
theless as  much  a  philosophy  as  the  most  highly 
developed  theism.  So  he,  himself,  was  not  quite 
free  from  speculation,  and,  therefore,  is  obliged 
to  submit  to  a  discussion  that  leads  into  the 
realm  of  metaphysics  and  epistemology,  and  in 
these  spheres  the  true  worth  of  his  theory  as  a 
system  of  truth  must  be  ascertained.  Here  the 
best  scholarship  has  shown  conclusively  that 
atheism  in  its  very  nature  is  suicidal  in  the  realm 
of  human  knowledge,  and  impossible  as  a  world 
solution. 

Again,  as  in  the  case  of  some  modern  scientists, 
Buddha's  zeal  for  facts  needs  some  close  analyzing, 
'  for  he  interprets  facts  in  a  materialistic  fashion, 
assuming  that  only  those  things  or  occurrences 
that  are  perceptible  to  the  senses  can  be  called 
facts.  He  omitted,  therefore,  in  his  classifica- 
tion a  whole  range  of  the  less  tangible  realities 
of  life,  such  as  the  categories  of  the  mind,  the 
spontaneous  aspirations  of  the  soul,  and  other 
important  spiritual  elements.  Recently  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  has  called  attention  to  this  prevalent 
error  among  modern  scientists,  and  insists  that 
there  are  vast  stores  of  facts  in  the  unseen  world 
with  which  we  must  reckon.  So  while  Gotama 
Buddha    was    scientific,    he    was    not    scientific 


162  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

enough  in  the  formuJation  of  his  teachings.  In 
view  of  this  Hmitation,  it  is  no  surprise  to  find 
that  he  was  really  the  great  pioneer  in  the  realm 
of  physiological  psychology.  Indeed,  one  of  the 
three  Pitakas  is  devoted  wholly  to  the  larger 
development  of  Buddha's  original  teachings  in 
the  discussion  of  mental  phenomena  from  the 
materialistic  viewpoint.  The  modern  followers  of 
Buddha  in  this  respect  are  legion,  for  it  has 
become  the  fashion  in  recent  years  to  find  in  this 
realm  of  materialistic  psychology  the  final  and 
sufficient  solution  for  nearly  all  the  problems  of 
human  life.  Now,  no  one,  of  course,  would  dis- 
pute the  assertion  that  the  mind  and,  indeed,  our 
whole  life  is  materialistically  conditioned,  but 
this  does  not  mean  that  life  and  mind  are  to  be 
defined  solely  in  terms  of  matter,  motion  and 
force,  bone,  flesh  and  blood,  or  even  ganglia, 
nerve  centers,  and  sensations.  Other  elements 
than  these  enter  into  the  processes  of  our  thoughts, 
our  wills,  and  our  emotions.  There  is  still  the 
unseen  mystery  of  the  free  soul  to  be  considered, 
and  the  fact  is  that  this  is  just  the  element  that 
so  frequently  upsets  all  the  nice  findings  of  the 
psychological  laboratory,  the  elaborate  curves  and 
diagrams  and  the  abstract  classifications  so  fa- 
miliar to  the  modern  student.  Psychology  is  of 
great  value  as  a  description  of  mental  phenomena 
and  processes,  but  when  it  enters  the  realm  of 
final  explanation  it  has  invaded  a  field  quite 
foreign  to  its  genius  and  therefore  must  fail  to 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  16S 

produce  worthy  results.  There  is  a  place  for 
science  and  there  is  a  place  for  philosophy  in 
the  world  of  human  research,  and  so  long  as 
students  in  these  realms  confine  themselves  each 
to  his  own  particular  task  there  will  be  no  con- 
fusion. Difficulty  is  sure  to  arise,  however,  when 
the  scientist  begins  to  dogmatize  about  philos- 
ophy, and  likewise  when  the  philosopher  begins 
to  dogmatize  about  scientific  matters,  for  the 
two  sets  of  facts  are  of  a  different  order  and 
require,  therefore,  a  different  type  of  treatment. 
Buddha  entirely  overlooked  many  real,  though 
unseen,  facts,  and  also  treated  those  with  which 
he  did  deal  in  a  limited  and  materialistic  way. 

From  the  practical  standpoint  also,  upon  the 
whole,  the  influence  of  Buddhism  has  not  been 
on  the  side  of  culture,  education,  and  the  progress 
of  civilization  as  we  conceive  these  matters,  for 
the  very  logic  of  the  faith  makes  for  passivity. 
In  Tibet,  where  it  has  had  an  unrestricted  oppor- 
tunity, we  see  its  typical  fruits  in  the  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  laziness  that  everywhere  abound, 
for  here  there  is  no  such  thing  as  growth  and 
progress  in  individual,  social,  or  national  life. 
Buddhistic  China  is  another  illustration  pointing 
the  same  way.  In  Japan  we  have  a  different 
situation,  but  in  this  case  there  are  some  important 
outside  elements  at  work  and  a  strongly  de- 
veloped national  spirit  fostered  by  the  earlier 
Shinto  faith. 

Ethically  likewise  this  great  religion  disappoints 


164  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

us,  for,  as  has  already  been  suggested,  Gotama 
taught  some  very  worthy  moral  precepts.  In 
life,  however,  apparently  the  passive  virtues  are 
the  ones  most  emphasized  and  practiced,  while 
those  of  an  aggressive  and  altruistic  character 
seem  to  receive  only  scant  consideration.  One 
day  on  a  train  in  Ceylon  we  inquired  of  a  prom- 
inent business  man  who  had  lived  among  the 
Buddhists  in  the  center  of  the  island  for  many 
years,  regarding  their  morals,  and  he  replied  that, 
so  far  as  his  observation  went,  they  were  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  those  of  the  other  natives 
of  the  Far  East.  Inasmuch  as  one  of  the  very 
strongest  boasts  of  the  faith  is  its  ethical  em- 
phasis, one  naturally  would  be  led  to  expect 
exceptional  fruit  in  life  as  the  result  of  its  teach- 
ings, but  such  a  condition,  unfortunately,  we  do 
not  find. 

The  chief  diflSculty,  however,  witn  Buddhism 
lies  not  so  much  in  the  weakness  of  its  ideals  as 
in  its  lack  of  power.  It  is  a  religion  of  denial,  a 
negative  faith.  Practically  speaking,  it  denies 
the  existence  of  God  and  of  the  soul,  it  condemns 
the  world  and  human  existence  as  an  empty  show 
and  offers  as  its  final  reward  a  state  that  means 
at  least  the  extinction  of  individuality.  Such  a 
faith  when  thoroughly  understood  means  a  hope- 
lessness of  outlook  and  a  paralysis  of  initiative 
that  cannot  but  deaden  life  in  all  its  various 
aspects.  Buddhism  stripped  of  nonessentials  is 
just  plain   atheism,   and,   in   spite  of  the  noble 


UNDER  THE  BO-TREE  165 

character  of  its  founder  and  his  love  for  human- 
ity, the  well-developed  system  of  teaching,  the  j 
moral  values  upheld,  and  sometimes  worthily 
expressed,  and  the  missionary  success  of  the  faith,  < 
it  can  offer  us  in  the  final  analysis  only  mental  ! 
and  spiritual  darkness.  In  no  sense  can  it  re-  i 
deem  the  world.  i 


REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  BUDDHISM 

Metaphysics:  Borden  P.  Bowne. 

Theory  of  Thought  and  Knowledge :  Borden  P.  Bowne. 

Theism:  Borden  P.  Bowne. 

Buddhism:  Monier- Williams. 

Buddhism:  T.  W.  R.  Davids. 

A  Buddhist  Manual  of  Psychological  Ethics:  Caroline 

Rhys  Davids. 
Buddhism:  A  Study  of  the  Buddhist  Norm:  Mrs.  T. 

W.  R.  Davids. 
Buddha  and  Buddhists:  Arthur  Lillie. 
Buddha's  Way  of  Virtue  (translation  of  Dhammapada) : 

W.  D.  C.  Wagiswara  and  K.  J.  Saunders. 
The  Jakata:  E.  B.  Cowell,  Editor. 
A  Manual  of  Buddhism :  Dudley  Wright. 
A  Buddhist  Catechism:  Subhadra  Bhikshu. 
The  Buddhist  Praying  Wheel:  W.  Simpson. 
Across  Thibet:  Gabriel  Bonvalot  (translated  by  C.  B. 

Pitman). 
The  Faith  of  Japan :  Tasuku  Harada. 


._J 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS 


Your  God  is  one  God,  there  is  no  God  but  he,  the 
most  merciful. — Mohammed, 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS 

Mohammedanism  is  distinctively  a  masculine 
religion.  It  represents  the  greatest  layman's 
missionary  movement  ever  projected  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  There  are  to-day  approximately 
225,000,000  followers  of  the  Prophet,  representing 
an  almost  incredible  growth  during  the  relatively 
short  period  since  his  death.  There  are  Moslems 
in  every  land,  even  in  England  and  America. 
In  fact,  there  are  more  Mohammedans  in  the 
British  empire  by  5,000,000  than  there  are  Chris- 
tians. In  Europe  there  are  3,500,000;  in  Africa 
about  60,000,000;  in  Asia,  nearly  160,000,000, 
besides  those  in  Australia  and  America.  And 
not  only  do  the  rapid  growth  and  these  striking 
statistics  challenge  our  attention,  but  we  must 
also  recognize  that  Moslem  converts  become 
remarkably  zealous  and  loyal  to  their  faith. 
The  hardest  problem,  therefore,  of  Christian 
missions  to-day  is  the  evangelization  of  the 
Mohammedan  world.  Islam,  moreover,  is  Chris- 
tianity's greatest  rival  in  the  missionary  enter- 
prise. In  Arabia,  Syria,  Persia,  Turkey,  Europe, 
Afghanistan,  India,  Burma,  Malaysia,  China,  and 
the  Philippine  Islands  the  propaganda  has  been 
carried  forward   with   amazing  results,   while  in 

169 


ITO  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Africa,  especially  of  late  years,  the  success  of  the 
Moslems  has  been  so  marked  that  they  have  all 
but  captured  the  continent  and  to-day  are  evan- 
gelizing its  people  more  rapidly  even  than  are 
the  Christian  missionaries. 

Mohammed,  a  Dominating  Personality 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  spread  of  Islam? 
A  number  of  causes  might  be  cited  for  the  success 
of  the  movement.  Carlyle  has  given  us  one  in 
his  study  of  Mohammed,  "The  Hero  as  a  Prophet," 
in  a  captivating  analysis  of  this  great  personality, 
whose  outstanding  characteristic  was  his  indom- 
itable will.  Surely,  Mohammedanism  is  a  unique 
illustration  of  the  fact  that  an  institution  always 
takes  on  the  character  of  its  founder.  The  man 
was  born  about  A.  D.  570  in  Mecca,  after  the 
death  of  his  father  Abdallah,  but  up  to  his  twenty- 
fifth  year  nothing  remarkable  in  his  life  is  re- 
corded. About  this  time,  however,  he  undertook 
to  manage  a  caravan  which  Khadija,  a  wealthy 
widow,  was  sending  to  Syria,  and  as  a  result  of 
this  venture  a  friendshijD  was  formed  with  her 
that  later  developed  into  love  and  marriage. 
It  is  said  that  the  marriage  was  a  happy  one, 
and  six  children  were  born  of  this  union.  During 
the  next  period  of  his  life  Mohammed  spent 
much  time  in  wandering  among  the  mountains 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Mecca  and  in  meditating 
on  the  great  problems  of  human  life  and  destiny. 
Doubtless   also  he  came  into  contact  with   the 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  171 

Jews  who  had  settled  in  Arabia  and  with  some 
Christians.  Out  of  these  experiences  and  reflec- 
tions there  gradually  arose  in  his  mind  a  strong 
faith  in  the  unity  of  God  and  a  firm  conviction 
that  he  was  called  to  be  the  chosen  prophet  of 
the  Most  High.  These  revelations  he  communi- 
cated to  his  wife  and  relatives,  and  succeeded  in 
making  a  few  converts  within  the  circle  of  his 
own  family.  His  preaching,  however,  was  not 
well  received  by  the  general  public,  though  he 
gained  a  few  more  followers.  He  was  persecuted 
and  his  life  threatened  until  he  finally  took 
flight  to  Medina,  where,  assuming  the  role  of 
dictator,  he  built  a  mosque  and  started  his  war 
upon  the  Koreish  of  Mecca,  meanwhile  marry- 
ing his  sixth  wife.  The  Medina  period  of  the 
Prophet's  career  was  marked  by  numerous  expe- 
ditions against  neighboring  Jewish  tribes  and  a 
successful  assault  on  his  native  city  of  Mecca. 
It  was  also  during  these  years  that  he  sent  mes- 
sages to  foreign  rulers  inviting  them  to  embrace 
the  faith.  The  capture  of  Mecca  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  every  evidence  of  the  old  idolatrous 
worship  settled  once  for  all  his  place  of  leadership, 
and  the  Mohammedan  movement  to  evangelize 
the  world  began  in  earnest.  His  life  closed  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  with  a  characteristic  inci- 
dent, for  even  from  his  sick  bed  he  sent  forth 
an  expedition  into  Syria,  and  with  his  dying 
breath  aflSrmed  his  belief  in  God  and  his  craving 
for  the  companionship  of  the  Most  High. 


172  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Such  are  the  bare  facts  of  Mohammed's  Hfe. 
They  represent  the  reaHstic  side  of  it.  But  back 
of  these  relatively  commonplace  events  there 
were  other  facts  that  account  not  only  for  the 
trend  of  his  own  life  but  also  in  some  measure 
for  the  remarkable  progress  of  Islam  since  his 
death.  These  are  the  intangible  and  mysterious 
facts  of  his  character.  Some  have  attempted  to 
explain  Mohammed  by  simply  asserting  that  he 
was  subject  to  fits  and  hallucinations.  Others 
have  attacked  the  sincerity  of  the  man  and  pic- 
tured him  as  an  unscrupulous  tyrant.  It  is 
probable  that  neither  of  these  explanations  is 
wholly  adequate.  It  is  certain  that  here  we  have 
a  man  of  unusual  will  power  and  courage,  and 
it  is  also  certain  that  he  projected  his  dominating 
personality  with  a  contagious  enthusiasm  into  the 
whole  movement.  Likewise  the  Koran  bears 
witness  to  his  mental  acumen,  though  his  intel- 
lectual powers  were  rather  practical  than  re- 
flective. Mohammed  was  a  patient,  generous 
man,  as  well,  and,  therefore,  made  friends,  whom 
he  held  through  the  exercise  of  these  qualities 
mingled  with  considerable  tact  and  diplomacy. 
That  he  thoroughly  believed  at  the  start  in  his 
revelations  and  in  his  mission  and  message  is 
scarcely  debatable.  If,  however,  one  studies  his 
career  closely  as  it  unfolds,  it  is  equally  clear  that, 
under  the  stress  of  his  unbridled  ambition,  he 
began  later  on  to  compromise  and  to  exchange 
the  power  of  sincerity  for  that  of  shrewd  manipu- 


THE  xMOSLEM  MILLIONS  173 

lation.  Toward  the  end  of  his  Kfe  he  even  did 
not  hesitate  to  proclaim  a  special  revelation 
whenever  he  desired  to  do  an  act  that  involved  a 
clear  violation  of  the  laws  of  Islam.  Mohammed- 
anism, then,  first  of  all,  must  be  studied  in  the 
light  of  the  Prophet's  own  personality. 

A  Simple  Creed 

Islam's  one  tremendous  truth,  the  unity  of  God, 
proclaimed  with  fanatical  zeal,  gripped  and  still 
grips  the  minds  of  men  everywhere.  It  was  a 
fresh  message  in  the  midst  of  the  babel  of  de- 
grading idolatry  and  superstitious  polytheism, 
and  it  found  an  answer  in  the  intuitions  of  men's 
own  souls.  Mohammedanism  is  a  remarkable 
illustration  of  the  power  of  one  truth  thoroughly 
believed  to  grip  and  transform  the  lives  of  men. 
Incidentally,  geography  was  on  the  side  of  the 
Prophet  in  the  proclamation  of  the  great  truth, 
for  a  better  place  than  Arabia  could  scarcely  have 
been  chosen  for  the  birth  of  Islam.  From  this 
center  the  mighty  influence  went  forth,  east  and 
west,  north  and  south,  to  Asia,  Europe,  Africa, 
and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Sti  1  another  inesti- 
mable advantage  possessed  by  this  missionary 
religion  was  the  simplicity  of  its  doctrinal  state- 
ment and  of  the  requirements  exacted  from  its 
converts.  "There  is  no  God  but  God,  and 
Mohammed  is  the  Prophet  of  God" — this  is  the 
doctrine,  so  clear  and  simple  that  no  man,  however 
ignorant,  need  to  miss  its  meaning.     To  believe 


174  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

this  one  sentence  makes  a  man  a  Mohammedan. 
The  requirements  Hkewise  are  simple  and  easily 
met.     Let  us  consider  the  five  items: 

(1)  The  recitation  of  the  creed. 

(2)  A  short  prayer  five  times  a  day  directed 
toward  Mecca. 

(3)  Systematic  almsgiving. 

(4)  Fasting  in  the  daytime  during  the  month 
of  Ramadan. 

(5)  A  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  once  in  a  lifetime. 
Such  a  simple  program  even  a  half-civilized  Moro 
can  adopt  and  follow.  This  is  the  essence  of  the 
faith  on  the  practical  side,  though,  of  course,  there 
is  a  Moslem  theology  wrought  out  in  the  sacred 
book,  the  Koran,  which  was  directly  revealed  to 
the  Prophet  himself  and  is  considered  absolutely 
infallible,  even  to  the  very  wording  of  its  passages. 
The  canon  of  this  sacred  book  was  fixed  within 
thirty  years  after  Mohammed's  death,  and  prac- 
tically no  changes  have  been  made  since  that 
time.  The  Koran  in  style  is  of  a  narrative  and 
hortatory  character,  embodying  the  elements  of 
history,  law,  theology,  and  ritual,  the  whole 
divided  into  surahs,  or  chapters.  As  to  the 
sources  of  material,  much  of  the  Koran  came 
from  the  Hebrews,  for  Mohammed  drew  liberally 
from  the  Old  and  even  from  the  New  Testament, 
though  his  record  is  not  always  accurate  either 
as  to  facts  or  names.  Jesus  Christ  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  prophets,  but  his  deity  is  denied.  The 
Koran  account  of  his  life  abounds  in  mistakes,  and 


IXTERIOR    PEARL    MOSQUE    AT    AGRA 


MOHAMMEDANS    AT    WOKSHll' 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  175 

even  furnishes  contradictory  passages  as  to  his 
death.  Other  material  in  the  Koran  is  taken 
from  the  Hfe  of  Mohammed  himself,  and  includes 
special  revelations,  moral  precepts,  and  doctrines. 

Every  Moslem  an  Evangelist 

The  power  of  a  simple  message  also  is  reenforced 
by  the  power  of  a  simple  method  of  propagation. 
At  the  beginning  Moslem  missionary  work  was 
carried  on  literally  by  the  sword.  With  a  terrible 
courage  these  early  followers  of  the  Prophet 
pushed  their  holy  war  not  only  in  Arabia  but  also 
in  Syria,  Persia,  Egypt,  Africa,  Turkey,  India,  the 
Malay  Archipelago,  and  elsewhere.  The  bloody 
work  was,  of  course,  furthered  by  the  inherent 
fanaticism  of  the  faith,  also  by  the  shrewd  doc- 
trine of  the  Prophet,  "To  the  believer  belong  the 
idolater's  goods."  Even  death  itself  met  while 
killing  a  heathen  greatly  increased  the  believer's 
heavenly  reward.  Is  it  any  wonder  with  such  a 
play  on  motives  that  Mohammedanism  began  to 
sweep  the  world?  In  modern  times  the  literal 
sword  is  not  so  much  in  evidence,  but  the  same 
spirit  of  fanatical  zeal  for  the  faith  still  prevails. 
It  was  asserted  above  that  the  missionary  effort 
of  the  Moslems  was  a  layman's  movement.  So 
it  is,  for  they  have  neither  an  organized  missionary 
society  nor  paid  agents,  though  in  recent  years  a 
kind  of  priesthood  is  beginning  to  develop.  The 
work  is  carried  on  by  merchants  and  traders  in  the 
regular  course  of  their  business.     These  travelers, 


176  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

for  example,  visit  the  tribes  of  Africa  for  the  pur- 
pose of  money-making,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
bargaining  also  tell  the  story  of  their  faith. 
There  is  nothing  professional  about  these  lay 
missionaries,  nothing  to  arouse  suspicion.  Friend- 
ships are  cultivated,  the  simple  doctrine  is  out- 
lined, and  Moslem  converts  are  made  by  the 
thousands.  With  such  a  method  of  evangelization 
it  is  not  strange  that  more  than  half  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Africa  is  to-day  dominated  by  Islam. 

Some  months  ago  with  an  American  friend  we 
were  making  the  trip  by  rail  from  Madras  to 
Bombay.     The  porter  for  our  compartment  was 
a    fine,    stalwart    Mohammedan,     whose    great 
Indian  turban  of  green  and  white  added  dignity 
to  his  already  commanding  appearance.     As  we 
sped  along  across  the  hot  roadbed  he  began  to 
talk  in  broken  English.     After  some  comments 
on  points  of  interest  along  the  way,  he  presently 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  subject  of  religion. 
"Master,"  said  he,  "y^^  know  Adam.^^"     Realiz- 
ing that  he  was  about  to  explain  something  of  his 
faith,   we  assumed  the  attitude  of  inquiry   and 
replied  with  another  question,  "Who  was  Adam.^^" 
This  started  the  porter  on  a  long  explanation  of 
Old  Testament  history  and  teaching.     He  took 
up  the  story  of  Cain  and  Abel  and  afterward  the 
lives  of  the  prophets.     Then  step  by  step  he  out- 
lined   the    Mohammedan    doctrine,    and    finally 
began  to  talk  of  prayer.     In  reply  to  a  question 
as  to  his  habits  of  prayer  he  said:  "I  pray  five 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  177 

times  every  day.  O,  one  must  pray.  Prayer  is 
very  important,  and  God  wants  us  to  pray." 
When  the  objection  was  urged  that  his  work  might 
interfere  with  these  fixed  times  of  prayer,  and  as 
an  illustration  it  was  pointed  out  that  he  might 
some  day  be  in  the  midst  of  this  exercise  when  the 
guard  gave  the  signal  to  start  the  train,  this 
earnest  Moslem  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height, 
his  black  eyes  flashing  as  did  the  Prophet's  when 
he  ordered  the  assault  on  Mecca,  and  made  this 
answer:  "What  difference  would  that  make.^ 
What  is  job?  What  is  business.^  What  is  money? 
What  is  reputation?  What  is  wife  and  home? 
There  is  God!"  Faith  like  that  and  zeal  like 
that  is  the  outstanding  secret  of  Islam's  progress. 
But  the  porter-evangelist  was  not  yet  through. 
In  spite  of  the  interruptions  due  to  station  stops, 
when  duty  required  him  to  stand  at  the  steps  of 
the  car,  he  invariably  returned  to  continue  the 
conversation.  Finally  he  began  a  personal  appeal 
that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  most  zealous 
Christian  worker.  When  at  last  we  left  this 
Moslem  evangelist  we  wondered  what  would 
happen  if  every  follower  of  Christ  were  to  develop 
such  practical  earnestness  for  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  specifically  to 
Mohammedanism  in  India  and  study  the  faith 
with  this  country  as  the  background,  for  here  we 
have  fully  sixty-five  million  of  the  faithful.  India 
represents  the  best  Moslem  missionary  endeavor. 


178  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

for  here,  in  spite  of  the  strength  of  Hinduism  and 
other  rehgions,  and  in  recent  years  under  a 
Christian  government,  Mohammed  has  captured 
nearly  a  fourth  of  the  people.  The  story  of  the 
conquest  of  India  by  Islam,  and  the  reign  for 
more  than  six  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  Moham- 
medan sovereigns  and  Moguls  in  the  ancient 
city  of  Delhi,  is  full  of  strange  romance.  The 
first  Moslem  contact  with  India  came  during  the 
seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  but  it  was  not  until 
about  1200  that  the  famous  "Slave"  dynasty 
began  with  the  reign  of  Kutb-un-din.  Fortu- 
nately, the  visitor  of  to-day  in  India  may  transport 
himself  back  through  the  centuries  into  those 
days  of  unsurpassed  Oriental  splendor  and  achieve- 
ment, for  the  ruins  of  former  greatness  in  mosques 
and  monuments  remain  to  this  day.  He  may 
also  visit  marble  palaces  and  tombs  still  intact  in 
their  exquisite  loveliness.  If  our  traveler  in 
northern  India,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
ancient  capital  of  Delhi,  possess  any  imagination 
his  stay  will  mean  living  over  again  the  days  of 
his  childhood  when  there  was  nothing  common  or 
unclean,  but  everything  took  on  the  glory  of 
another  world.  The  Arabian  Night's  Entertain- 
ment here  becomes  real  and  we  look  for  Aladdin 
and  his  wonderful  lamp  in  yonder  beautiful  marble 
palace.  And  where  is  the  magic  carpet  .^^  We 
stand  in  the  royal  ladies'  private  room,  where 
mysterious  holes  in  the  wall  used  to  hide  their 
priceless  jewels,  and  find  ourselves  peeping  through 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  179 

the  marble  screen  to  see  perchance  the  beautiful 
ladies  themselves.  There  are  the  gorgeous  baths, 
the  fountains,  the  palm  trees,  the  mosques,  the 
turbaned  worshiper.  Under  this  environment 
time  itself  seems  to  vanish  and  we  live  once  more 
in  the  strange  old  world  of  the  Moguls. 

There  is  an  ancient  ruin  eleven  miles  from 
Delhi,  the  mosque  built  by  Kutb-un-din,  the 
first  of  the  Slave  kings,  who  took  the  throne  at 
Delhi  in  1206.  This  mosque  was  doubtless  made 
over  from  an  old  Hindu  temple,  the  finely  carved 
pillars  of  which  stand  to-day  in  a  kind  of  solitary 
splendor.  Remnants  of  richly  carved  screens 
and  several  magnificent  arches  tell  us  that  an  eye- 
witness, who  actually  saw  the  mosque  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  it  was  erected 
and  pronounced  it  without  equal  anywhere,  must 
have  had  good  reason  for  his  sweeping  statement. 
Just  at  the  right  of  the  mosque  is  the  great 
tower  of  victory,  the  Kutb  Minar.  Looming  up  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  and  commanding 
a  view  of  the  whole  region  for  miles  in  every 
direction,  this  magnificent  tower  seems  to  typify 
the  Moslem  domination  of  ancient  India.  "The 
Kutb  Minar,"  declares  James  Fergusson,  the 
famous  architectural  authority,  "both  in  design 
and  finish  far  surpasses  any  building  of  its  class  in 
the  whole  world";  and  comparing  it  with  the 
famous  Campanile  of  Florence,  he  adds  that  the 
Italian  tower  "wants  that  poetry  of  design  and 
exquisite  finish  of  detail  which  mark  every  molding 


180  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  the  Minar."  It  is  built  of  red  sandstone  and 
marble  and  divided  into  five  stories.  Up  its 
seemingly  endless  spiral  steps  we  climbed  one 
February  evening  to  the  very  summit  itself,  that 
we  might  see  a  glorious  Indian  sunset.  As  we 
looked  down  upon  the  arches  of  broken  beauty 
just  below  and  then  far  off  toward  the  horizon, 
noting  here  and  there  the  dome  of  an  ancient  tomb 
or  a  Moslem  minaret,  in  a  dream  we  seemed  to 
hear  the  loud  voice  of  the  muezzin  across  the  lapse 
of  seven  hundred  years  cry  out  from  this  very 
summit:  "Allahu  Akbar!" — God  is  most  great. 
It  is  the  evening  call  to  prayer,  and  as  he  repeats 
this  opening  phrase  four  times  and  then  follows 
with  emphatic  repetitions,  "I  bear  witness  that 
there  is  no  God  but  God,  I  bear  witness  that 
Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of  God.  Come  to 
prayer,  come  to  prayer,  come  to  the  Refuge,  come 
to  the  Refuge.  God  is  most  great,"  we  see  in  im- 
agination the  hordes  of  believers  with  their 
prayer  carpets  pouring  down  yonder  dusty  road 
to  the  entrance  of  the  mosque,  while  the  voice  of 
the  ancient  crier  dies  away  with  the  undying 
truth  "There  is  no  God  but  God." 

Aside  from  the  beauties  of  nature  itself  in  India, 
Mohammedanism  is  to  be  credited  with  the  most 
worthy  artistic  contributions  of  which  the  country 
can  boast.  A  visit  to  the  Forts  of  Delhi  and  Agra, 
with  their  beautiful  marble  mosques,  palaces,  and 
halls,  is  like  a  refreshing  draught  from  a  pure,  cold 
spring  after  trying  in  vain  to  find  some  eternal 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  181 

meaning  in  the  tawdry  temples  of  Hindu  Benares. 
What  is  the  secret  of  the  Moslem  love  of  the 
beautiful  and  the  splendid  artistic  contributions 
of  the  Mohammedans  to  India?  Why  did  the 
Moguls  enlist  the  best  architects  obtainable  at 
home  and  then  send  across  the  seas  to  far  away 
Italy  and  France  to  summon  to  their  mighty 
tasks  the  finest  talent  they  could  command? 
These  questions  simply  indicate  the  fact  that 
there  is  always  a  vital  connection  between  religion 
and  art.  The  riches  of  Europe  in  painting, 
sculpture,  and  cathedral  can  be  credited  only  to 
the  great  religious  convictions  of  men,  in  a  period 
of  intensest  idealism.  So  in  India  the  Moslem, 
with  his  one  tremendous  truth  of  the  unity  of 
God  and  a  reach  beyond  the  bounds  of  material 
things  into  a  vast  and  mysterious  eternity,  sought 
not  only  to  express  his  ideal  by  word  of  mouth  but 
also  by  marble  symbol  as  well.  Thus  he  brought 
to  India  a  new  meaning  and  left  the  imprint  of  an 
infinite  beauty  there. 

We  ought  to  know  the  Moguls  better,  for  they 
were  great  men.  Hear  their  names:  Babar, 
Humayun,  Akbar,  Jahangir,  Shah  Jahan,  and 
Aurangzeb,  representing  a  dynasty  of  almost  two 
hundred  years  (1526-1707),  the  golden  age  of 
Mohammedanism  in  India.  Without  doubt  Akbar 
was  the  greatest  of  these  rulers.  Indeed,  he 
ranks  among  the  greatest  of  the  world's  sovereigns 
since  history  began.  He  is  buried  at  Sikandra, 
near  Agra,  where  it  was  our  privilege  to  visit  his 


182  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

tomb  in  company  with  a  friend  who  had  lived  in 
India  all  her  life.  As  she  talked  of  the  man, 
weaving  in  the  gossip  and  tradition  of  the  people 
with  the  facts  actually  recorded  in  his  written 
biography,  Akbar  became  a  very  real  figure  and 
seemed  to  live  again  in  the  flesh.  His  mausoleum 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  India,  constructed,  like  the 
Kutb  Minar,  entirely  of  red  sandstone  and  marble. 
White  minarets  and  towers  add  to  the  exterior 
beauty  of  the  tomb,  while  the  interior  is  exquis- 
itely frescoed  in  rich  blue  and  gold.  The  fourth, 
or  top,  floor  is  built  entirely  of  marble,  with  splen- 
did screens,  through  which  the  wind  moans  the 
endless  requiem  of  the  dead  over  the  marble 
cenotaph  of  Akbar,  whereon  are  engraved  the 
ninety-nine  names  for  God,  among  which  the  word 
"Father"  is  characteristically  missing.  Near  by 
is  a  marble  pillar  on  which  it  is  said  once  rested 
the  famous  Kohinor  diamond.  Akbar  was  crowned 
in  1556,  and  though  he  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  he  had  a  singularly  clear  intellect.  His 
administration  was  characterized  by  military 
successes  and  real  revenue  reforms.  With  a 
leaning  toward  democracy,  he  safeguarded  the 
interests  of  the  poor  and  oppressed  and  was  a  true 
friend  to  the  Hindus.  He  also  was  a  student  of 
comparative  religions,  devoted  much  time  to  the 
consideration  of  the  various  creeds  of  the  world, 
and  sought  interviews  with  leaders  of  other  faiths, 
striving  always  to  glean  the  best  truths  from  each. 
This  attitude  of  mind  soon  resulted  in  a  gradual 


) 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  183 

breaking  away  from  the  orthodox  Mohammedan 
view,  so  that  in  the  latter  part  of  his  Hfe  he  came  to 
be  a  pure  theist,  with  warm  sympathies  for  Par- 
seeism.  It  is  also  affirmed  that  he  leaned  strongly 
toward  Roman  Catholicism,  a  tendency  accounted 
for,  according  to  tradition,  by  the  influence  of  his 
wife,  Miriam,  who  was  said  to  have  been  a  Portu- 
guese Christian. 

The  World's  Most  Beautiful  Building 

Another  of  the  Mogul  line  of  famous  princes 
was  Shah  Jahan,  the  builder  of  the  Taj  Mahal. 
No  visitor  to  India  can  afford  to  miss  Agra  and 
this  finest  building  in  the  world.  Writers  literally 
have  exhausted  their  vocabularies  in  descriptions 
of  the  tomb  of  the  Princess  Mumtaz-i-Mahal,  and 
the  story  of  the  love  of  the  great  Mogul  for  his 
favorite  wife  has  been  told  the  world  around. 
Mumtaz-i-Mahal  died  in  1629,  and  soon  after- 
wards the  prince  began  to  build  her  tomb,  but  the 
work  was  not  completed  until  about  1650.  One 
gets  some  idea  of  the  size  of  the  undertaking  from 
the  amount  of  money  expended  in  the  erection  of 
this  unique  monument,  for  Shah  Jahan  literally 
gave  a  fortune  to  the  memorial  of  his  beloved 
princess.  It  is  variously  estimated  that  the  Taj 
Mahal  cost  between  six  and  ten  million  dollars. 
But  the  mere  statement  of  money  expenditure  by 
no  means  gives  an  adequate  estimate  of  the  whole 
cost.  There  was  also  an  investment  of  intellect, 
time,  and  physical  labor  almost  beyond  the  im- 


184  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

agination  of  modern  man.  In  the  story  of  the 
Taj  the  element  of  romance  has  always  been 
stressed,  and  the  appeal  has  been  to  the  artistic 
and  sentimental  sides  of  our  nature.  There  are, 
however,  in  connection  with  the  erection  of  this 
beautiful  tomb  some  sad  facts  of  which  we  seldom 
hear.  They  constitute  a  terrible  tale  of  cruelty 
and  oppression.  Shah  Jahan  spent  over  twenty 
years  on  this  enterprise,  employing  the  artist 
Verroneo  of  Venice  for  the  designing  and  Augustin 
de  Bordeaux  of  France  for  the  decorations.  And 
now  comes  the  story  of  anguish  and  blood,  for 
the  prince,  unlike  the  great  Akbar,  had  no  sense 
of  pity  for  the  poor,  no  democratic  instincts. 
Twenty-two  thousand  laborers  were  compelled  to 
work  without  pay  in  the  construction  of  the  tomb, 
the  sole  wage  accorded  to  this  forced  labor  being 
their  food,  which  consisted  only  of  bread.  Con- 
sider the  agonies  borne  by  these  poor  unfortunates 
that  the  great  Mogul  might  outstrip  the  world  in 
a  monument  to  his  beloved.  The  countless  loads 
of  marble  used  in  its  construction  had  to  be 
dragged  by  slow  ox  teams  over  the  burning  sands 
of  India  from  Jaipur,  and  tons  of  red  sandstone 
from  Fatehpur  Sikri.  Underfed,  overworked, 
stricken  with  the  heat,  these  miserable  slaves  died 
like  flies  under  the  scourges  of  cholera,  plague, 
and  smallpox.  The  remedy  was  an  easy  one. 
The  cruel  prince  simply  ordered  the  sick  to  be 
removed  and  new  laborers  forced  into  their  places. 
Such  is  the  story  you  may  hear  in  Agra,  where 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  185 

the  unwritten  history  of  the  Taj  Mahal  has  been 
passed  down  through  the  generations.  Such  ter- 
rible realism  tempers  in  a  measure  the  idealistic 
story  of  the  "Marble  Dream,"  but  the  lessons  of 
democracy  are  as  important  as  those  of  art. 

The  beauty  of  the  Taj  Mahal  is  not  altogether 
Moslem,  for  the  British  authorities  in  recent  years 
have  given  the  famous  tomb  a  setting  truly  mag- 
nificent. The  garden  with  a  fine  arrangement  of 
trees  and  fiowers,  the  pool  and  the  fountains  com- 
bine to  enhance  its  grandeur,  while  an  arched 
gateway  of  darker  stone  screens  the  tomb  itself 
from  the  view  of  the  visitor  until  the  glory  of  it  all 
bursts  suddenly  upon  him.  With  old  Rham  Sai, 
a  native  Methodist  minister,  we  passed  under  that 
arch  and  caught  the  vision  beautiful.  Starting 
from  where  we  stood  and  leading  between  two 
rows  of  cypress  trees  was  a  marble-inclosed  path- 
way of  water  that  seemed  to  invite  our  eyes  not  to 
rest  in  its  own  crystal  depths  but  to  travel  on  to  the 
greater  splendors  beyond.  Who  can  ever  forget  the 
lifting  of  the  eyes  and  that  first  wonderful  sight 
of  the  Taj?  There  it  stands  in  all  its  majestic 
whiteness  like  some  magic  palace  of  another  world. 
One  is  not  disappointed.  Generally  the  imagina- 
tion in  a  case  of  this  kind  has  been  stimulated 
beforehand  to  such  a  pitch  of  expectancy  that  the 
actual  experience  brings  a  depressing  reaction. 
It  is  not  so  with  the  Taj  Mahal,  for  its  beauty 
literally  beggars  description.  It  is  said  that  the 
Moguls   "designed  like  Titans  and  finished  like 


186  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

jewelers."  The  first  view  of  this  wonderful  tomb 
stirs  this  titanic  thrill  of  awe  as  the  spectator  con- 
templates the  majestic  proportions  of  the  great 
masterpiece.  It  stands  on  a  raised  marble  plat- 
form in  the  midst  of  four  graceful  minarets. 
Just  before  us  is  the  great  arched  doorway  flanked 
on  either  side  by  four  similar  but  smaller  arches 
in  double  arrangement,  while  towering  majestically 
into  the  sky  is  the  great  white  dome,  rising  from 
the  midst  of  a  group  of  four  smaller  ones  to  com- 
plete the  perfect  symmetry.  Such  a  brief  descrip- 
tion, however,  can  by  no  means  give  an  adequate 
idea  of  this  wonderful  building,  for  the  very  terms 
are  structural,  mechanical,  while  the  Taj  Mahal 
is  a  living  thing.  See  it  at  noonday  all  white  and 
dazzling  under  the  blazing  sky;  see  it  grow  sad 
and  somber  under  the  clouds;  see  it  in  the  late 
afternoon  and  watch  its  changing  glories  when 
the  sun  is  sinking  in  the  golden  west;  see  the 
Taj  under  the  brilliant  stars  of  an  Oriental  sky 
bathed  in  a  flood  of  moonlight.  Only  by  such 
companionship  can  one  sense  its  vital  and  eternal 
meaning.  We  walk  under  the  great  arch  and 
into  the  tomb  itself  to  find  another  kind  of  beauty 
in  the  richness  and  exquisiteness  of  finished  detail. 
Here  is  a  marvelous  blend  of  brown  and  violet 
marbles  with  the  white  to  relieve  the  glare  and  a 
combination  of  pierced  marble  screens  in  the  lofty 
domes  to  soften  the  strong  Indian  light.  The 
delicate  inlay  work  of  agate  and  jasper,  the  orna- 
mentation of  precious  stones,  the  lacework  screen 


THE    TAJ     MAHAL 


IVIAllBLE    SCREEN    AT    THE    ENTRANCE    OF    THE 

TAJ    MAHAL 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  187 

of  marble  at  the  entrance  reveal  the  artist's  in- 
finite pains.  The  building  within  has  one  central 
octagonal  chamber  around  which  are  grouped  other 
smaller  rooms.  In  this  central  chamber  under  the 
dome  lie  the  tombs  of  Mumtaz-i-Mahal,  the  prin- 
cess, and  Shah  Jahan  himself.  It  is  said  that  the 
prince  intended  to  build  another  tomb  for  himself, 
a  Taj  of  black  marble  just  across  the  river  from  the 
Taj  Mahal,  but  his  son,  realizing  the  tremendous 
expense  of  the  undertaking,  interfered,  so  that 
this  dream  was  never  realized.  The  Great  Mogul 
was  stricken  in  the  year  1658,  and  as  he  was  about 
to  die  commanded  the  attendants  to  carry  his 
couch  up  to  an  open  tower  on  the  marble  palace 
overlooking  the  Jumna.  Here  his  dying  eyes 
beheld  for  the  last  time  the  tomb  of  his  beloved 
on  the  distant  horizon.  Soon  afterward  they 
carried  his  body  out  to  the  beautiful  garden  to 
rest  forever  by  her  side. 

Some  Modern  Reformers 

We  turn  now  from  this  era  of  extraordinary 
Mohammedan  power,  these  days  of  luxury  and 
wonderful  art,  to  get  another  glimpse  of  the  great 
Moslem  missionary  movement  in  India.  What 
of  the  present  state  of  the  faith. ^  What  is  the 
outlook  for  the  future .^^  These  questions  bring 
before  us  directly  the  bearing  of  Mohammedan 
growth  and  progress  not  only  upon  the  life  of  the 
empire,  but  indirectly  upon  that  of  the  whole 
world.     With  the  death  of  Akbar  II,  in  1806,  the 


188  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

power  of  the  Moguls  in  India  practically  came  to 
an  end  and  an  era  of  Moslem  decline  ensued. 
Then  during  a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years  the 
Mohammedans  had  to  drink  their  cup  of  bitter- 
ness, for  they  saw  their  own  faith  weakening  and 
their  dream  of  world  conquest  fading,  while  the 
hated  Hindus,  over  whom  they  had  ruled,  were 
gaining  the  ascendency  over  them.  About  1870, 
however,  there  began  a  theological  and  educa- 
tional movement  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  Sir 
Saiyad  Ahmed  Khan,  an  exceptionally  brilliant 
Moslem  who  had  been  in  the  government  service 
and  had  published  a  discriminating  pamphlet  on 
The  Causes  of  the  Indian  Mutiny.  To  this  man 
is  due  largely  the  modern  advance  along  worthy 
lines  of  Indian  Mohammedanism.  He  gave  a 
rationalistic  interpretation  of  the  Koran  and 
conceded  the  large  human  element  in  its  revelation. 
He  even  wrote  a  commentary  on  the  Bible  in 
which  he  admitted  its  authenticity,  though  he 
declared  his  unbelief  in  miracles.  He  edited  The 
Reform  of  Morals,  a  magazine  devoted  to  higher 
ethical  and  social  ideals  for  Islam.  The  most  far- 
reaching  work  of  his  life,  however,  was  the  found- 
ing of  a  college  at  Aligarh,  for  here  he  succeeded  in 
starting  a  really  high-grade  institution  that  soon 
became  the  center  of  the  liberal  Moslem  move- 
ment. Saiyad  Ahmed  Khan's  dominating  in- 
terest, however,  was  theological  and  all  his  moral, 
educational,  and  social  reform  efforts  grew  out  of 
and  took  color  from  his  liberal  views.     Thus  the 


THE  :\10SLEM  MILLIONS  189 

great  Moslem  missionary  movement  in  India  took 
a  turn  contrary  to  the  whole  genius  and  spirit  of 
Islam,  and  seemed  to  promise  a  salutary  change 
of  plan  and  purpose. 

The  inherent  fanaticism  of  the  faith,  however, 
would  not  allow  such  an  expression  of  viewpoint 
to  go  unchallenged.  We  hear,  therefore,  within 
the  first  decade  of  this  new  movement  of  Mirza 
Ghulam  Ahmed  of  Quadian,  who  claimed  to  be 
the  promised  Messiah  of  the  Koran.  He  taught 
a  mingled  doctrine.  There  were  both  liberal  and 
conservative  elements  in  his  theology,  and  his 
bitterness  toward  Christian  missions  doubtless 
influenced  him  in  both  his  interpretations  of  the 
Koran  and  in  his  criticisms  of  Jesus  Christ.  Still 
he  was  a  man  of  considerable  intellectual  ability 
and  a  shrewd  judge  of  human  nature.  His  mag- 
azine The  Review  of  Religions  received  apprecia- 
tive commendations  even  from  such  a  leader  as 
Tolstoy,  who  said  of  it,  "The  ideas  are  very  pro- 
found and  true."  Toward  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  unmistakable  evidences  of  the  fraudulent 
nature  of  his  prophecies  and  claims  began  to  show 
themselves.  He  died  in  1908,  but  his  life  left  its 
impress  in  an  organization  called  the  Ahmadiya, 
numbering  some  fifty  thousand  persons.  His 
book.  The  Teachings  of  Islam,  is  interesting  in  its 
revelation  of  Hindu,  liberal  Moslem,  and  espe- 
cially Christian  influences  at  work  upon  a  mind 
naturally  of  the  conservative  type.  For  example, 
here    is    a    statement    embodying    both    Eastern 


190  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

mysticism  and  Christian  teaching:  "Is  it  true  that 
mere  logic  and  philosophy  may  open  for  us  the 
doors  which  experience  tells  us  only  can  be  opened 
by  the  powerful  hand  of  God?  Not  at  all;  mere 
human  devices  can  never  reveal  to  us  the  shining 
face  of  the  living  and  supporting  God.  Let  him 
who  would  walk  on  the  right  path  first  of  all  com- 
pletely submit  himself  with  all  his  faculties  and 
powers  to  the  will  of  God,  and  then  pray  unceas- 
ingly and  untiringly  for  the  Divine  union,  and 
thus  realize  the  truth  of  Divine  existence  through 
Divine  assistance."^ 

And  this  sounds  very  much  like  Saint  James: 
"As  trees  would  wither  away  if  they  were  not 
watered,  so  faith  without  good  deeds  is  dead. 
Faith  without  deeds  is  useless,  and  good  deeds 
not  actuated  by  faith  are  a  mere  show."^^  Mirza 
Ghulam  Ahmed's  doctrine  of  heaven  and  hell 
also  is  somewhat  of  an  improvement  over  the 
materialistic  teachings  of  the  Koran  as  interpreted 
by  the  earlier  followers  of  the  Prophet,  for  he  says: 
"In  short,  heaven  and  hell,  according  to  the  Holy 
Koran,  are  images  and  representations  of  a  man's 
own  spiritual  life  in  this  world.  They  are  not  new 
material  worlds  which  come  from  the  outside. 
It  is  true  that  they  shall  be  visible  and  palpable, 
call  them  material  if  you  please,  but  they  are  only 
embodiments  of  the  spiritual  facts  of  this  world. "^^ 

•  The  Teachings  of  Islam,  by  Mirza  Ghulam  Ahmed,  pp.  100, 
101. 

"Ibid.,  p.  113. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  144. 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  191 

The  doctrine  of  final  judgment  as  elucidated  in 
The  Teachings  of  Islam  also  coincides  with  the 
Christian  view:  "The  third  world  is  the  world  of 
resurrection.  In  this  world  every  soul,  good  or 
bad,  virtuous  or  wicked,  shall  be  given  a  visible 
body.  The  day  of  resurrection  is  the  day  of  the 
complete  manifestation  of  God's  glory,  when 
everyone  shall  become  perfectly  aware  of  the 
existence  of  God.  On  that  day  every  person 
shall  have  a  complete  and  open  reward  of  his 
actions. "^^  Recent  years  have  seen  a  decided 
tendency  back  to  orthodoxy,  although  the  value 
of  the  liberal  Moslem  movement  has  by  no  means 
been  entirely  lost.  An  organization  based  on  the 
more  conservative  theological  views  and  the 
stricter  interpretation  of  the  Koran  was  formed 
in  1885.  It  was  called  "The  Society  for  the 
Defense  of  Islam,"  and  laid  down  a  program  both 
offensive  and  defensive.  In  1894  another  like 
organization  was  formed  and  now  maintains  a 
central  office  at  Lucknow.  Its  chief  work  has 
been  the  organization  and  maintenance  of  a 
school  of  theology  in  that  city  and  the  encourage- 
ment of  similar  undertakings  elsewhere  in  India, 
for  the  Moslems  recently  have  begun  to  train 
professional  preachers  and  missionaries.  In  these 
schools  the  Koran  and  modern  science  are  "har- 
monized," and  it  is  even  taught  that  the  early 
Mohammedans  anticipated  many  of  our  modern 
discoveries    and    inventions.     These    theologians, 

^2  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


19^  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

moreover,  deny  that  there  is  any  causal  connec- 
tion between  the  many  worthy  elements  of 
Western  civilization  and  the  teachings  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Recent  Practical  Movements 

With  such  theological  shiftings  and  readjust- 
ments, largely  in  the  direction  of  progress,  have 
come  some  consequent  changes  of  an  ethical, 
educational,  social,  and  political  nature.  These 
practical  movements  are  of  deep  interest,  for  it  is 
just  here  that  we  find  the  greatest  weakness  and 
need  of  Mohammedanism.  Moslem  fanaticism 
through  the  centuries  has  stood  in  the  way  of  the 
progress  of  civilization,  as  the  history  of  the 
world  has  amply  testified.  This  is  no  marvel, 
however,  when  one  considers  the  hostile  attitude 
toward  education  that  has  characterized  Moham- 
medanism not  only  in  the  past  but  even  in  modern 
times.  In  India  more  than  ninety-six  per  cent  of 
adult  Moslems  are  illiterate^  but  this  is  by  no 
means  the  whole  story,  for  the  ninety-six  per 
cent  have  had  a  training  of  bad  environment, 
superstition,  and  fanaticism.  So  it  is  not  strange 
that  the  Hindus  have  far  outstripped  the  Moham- 
medans in  educational  matters.  There  can  be 
no  hope  for  Islam  in  India  or  anywhere  else  in 
the  world  unless  educational  provisions  are  made 
for  its  teeming  millions.  The  tragic  neglect  and 
abuse  of  childhood  lies  at  the  root  of  the  Moslem 
peril.     Consider  the  home  atmosphere,  that  first 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  193 

and  most  potent  influence  to  which  every  child  is 
subject.  Among  the  Mohammedans  we  find 
polygamy,  divorce,  sensuahty,  deceit,  and  a  host 
of  other  evils.  Add  to  these  the  prevalence  of 
Oriental  diseases,  the  dirt  and  squalor,  the  utter 
lack  of  discipline,  and  the  home  life  of  the  Mos- 
lems is  a  sorry  spectacle.  Nevertheless,  this  en- 
vironment constitutes  the  first  stage  in  the  training 
of  child  life.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Islam  has  been 
such  an  obstructing  force  in  the  progress  of  the 
world  .^  The  marvel  is  that  its  harm  has  been  so 
limited  in  extent.  The  home  life  of  the  Moham- 
medan child,  however,  does  not  last  long  in  most 
instances,  and  other  pernicious  forces  soon  begin 
to  work  upon  him.  Child  marriage  is  an  institu- 
tion not  only  of  the  Hindus  but  of  the  Moham- 
medans as  well.  Likewise  child  labor  in  its  worst 
forms  is  found  throughout  Islam,  for  in  many  cases 
whole  families  are  supported  by  the  labor  of  these 
little  ones.  Such  systematic  training  as  most 
Mohammedan  children  receive  consists  largely  of 
the  memorization  of  prayers.  In  the  schools  it  is 
also  a  program  of  memorization.  With  endless 
drilling  the  boys  are  taught  to  repeat  the  entire 
Koran,  but  the  process  is  a  purely  verbal  one,  for 
they  get  but  little  of  its  meaning.  In  more  ad- 
vanced institutions  the  same  method  is  applied  to 
grammar,  history,  and  other  studies,  so  that  the 
boy  emerges  from  his  school  life  with  a  well- 
trained  memory  faculty,  but  without  thought 
life.     Because  of  the  low  estimate  of  women  among 


194  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  Mohammedans  for  the  most  part  no  provision 
is  made  for  the  education  of  girls. 

Indian  Mohammedanism,  however,  is  awaken- 
ing to  its  educational  weakness.  Aiyed  Ahmed 
Kahn  saw  the  situation  clearly  and  had  the  cour- 
age to  point  out  the  worthlessness  of  the  program 
of  religious  memory  work  and  the  disaster  sure  to 
ensue  unless  Moslems  changed  front  and  welcomed 
the  science  and  methods  of  the  West.  He  under- 
took the  mighty  task  and  accomplished  much  in 
his  day.  It  was  he  who  started  the  Mohammedan 
Educational  Conference,  a  body  that  meets  an- 
nually in  India.  Largely  through  the  influence 
of  this  organization  provision  is  now  being  made 
in  a  few  places  for  female  education,  notably  at 
Lucknow  and  Lahore.  The  significance  of  this 
radical  departure  from  old  customs  will  appear 
when  we  realize  that  in  India  only  four  Moslem 
women  in  every  thousand  can  read.  Aiyed 
Ahmed  Kahn's  college  at  Aligarhhas  pioneered 
the  way  for  higher  education  among  Indian  Mo- 
hammedans. It  is  founded  on  the  principles  of 
religion,  liberally  interpreted,  and  seeks  to  be 
true  to  the  best  teachings  of  the  Prophet,  but  it 
also  offers  a  modern  curriculum  and  follows 
accredited  educational  methods.  Out  of  this  insti- 
tution are  going  Islam's  future  leaders  in  India. 

From  the  ethical  and  social  viewpoint,  as  from 
the  educational,  the  picture  is  a  dark  one  so  far 
as  the  Moslem  world  is  concerned,  though  it  must 
be  conceded  that  there  is  more  hope  in  the  Indian 


THE  xMOSLEM  MILLIONS  195 

situation  than  there  is  elsewhere.  The  outstand- 
ing shame  of  the  faith  is  the  condition  of  woman- 
hood. Mohammed  himself  had  thirteen  wives, 
and,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Koran,  a 
follower  of  the  Prophet  is  allowed  four  wives  and 
as  many  concubines  as  his  wealth  may  permit. 
But  this  indorsement  and  practice  of  polygamy 
is  not  the  only  evil.  Along  with  it  as  a  corollary 
goes  great  freedom  in  the  matter  of  divorce. 
When  a  husband  can  secure  separation  from  his 
wife  by  simply  pronouncing  the  word  "divorce" 
what  chance  is  there  for  the  development  of 
womanhood  and  family  life.'^  Some  Moslems  by 
exercising  this  right  have  married  as  many  as 
thirty  or  forty  wives  in  a  lifetime.  The  practice 
of  rigid  seclusion  of  woman  has  also  contributed 
to  her  degradation  by  keeping  her  in  ignorance 
and  out  of  touch  with  life  and  progress.  During 
a  visit  to  a  mission  hospital  in  the  city  of  Bareilly 
we  saw  this  fact  illustrated  in  a  striking  contrast. 
Here  with  us  one  day  was  a  group  of  a  dozen  fine 
native  Christian  nurses  cooperating  with  the 
physicians  in  a  service  for  humanity  and  finding 
high  expression  for  their  lives  in  the  perfect  free- 
dom that  modern  civilization  brings  to  woman. 
But  as  we  crossed  the  inner  court  we  passed  a 
portico  where  were  seated  a  group  of  Moham- 
medan women.  As  soon  as  they  realized  our 
presence  they  immediately  began  to  hang  a  great 
curtain  across  the  front  of  the  entrance,  thus 
shutting  themselves  away  from  the  outside  world. 


196  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

The  act  was  typical  of  just  what  Mohammedan- 
ism has  done  for  woman.  It  has  shut  her  out  from 
the  activity,  progress,  and  service  of  the  world 
and  has  shut  her  up  to  unutterable  ignorance, 
misery,  and  degradation. 

But  it  is  encouraging  to  record  that  the  position 
of  women  in  Islam  is  slowly  improving,  especially 
in  India,  where  the  latest  statistics  show  only  a 
small  percentage  of  the  people  practice  polygamy 
and  the  leaders  of  the  modern  movement  are 
outspoken  in  their  condemnation  of  the  evil.  At 
the  Lucknow  Conference  of  Christian  workers 
among  Mohammedans,  in  1911,  Miss  A.  De  Selin- 
court  reported  that  there  were  thirty  million 
Moslem  women  in  India,  among  whom  already 
have  been  organized  a  number  of  clubs  and  asso- 
ciations for  the  betterment  of  womanhood.  She 
is  also  authority  for  the  statement  that  a  number 
of  these  ladies  are  lecturing  on  themes  of  social 
reform,  and  that  others  are  editors  of  papers 
published  in  the  interest  of  Moslem  women.  A 
conference  of  Moslem  women  which  meets  in  con- 
nection with  the  yearly  Mohammedan  Educa- 
tional Conference  organized  by  Aiyed  Ahmed 
Khan  is  especially  concerning  itself  with  the 
education  of  girls,  an  undertaking  full  of  hope  for 
the  future. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  child- 
marriage,  which  still  continues  as  a  shameful 
Moslem  institution,  bringing  literal  death  and 
destruction  in  its  train.     Terrible  as  is  this  union 


A    MOHAMMEDAN    SCHOOI-    IN    BOMBAY 


MOHAMMEDAN    SCHOOL    CHILDREN 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  197 

of  immature  children,  the  Mohammedan  practice 
of  marrying  little  girls  to  men  old  enough  to  be 
their  fathers  is  far  more  horrible.  It  is  no  wonder 
in  view  of  this  evil  and  other  conditions  of  im- 
morality and  filth,  that  infant  mortality  in  Moslem 
countries  ranges  from  sixty  to  as  high  as  eighty- 
five  per  cent.  In  India  the  evil  has  been  some- 
what modified  by  increasing  the  minimum  mar- 
riage limit  for  girls  from  ten  years  to  twelve, 
though  this  governmental  regulation  is  very  fre- 
quently disregarded.  However,  the  more  pro- 
gressive Mohammedans  are  heartily  ashamed  of 
the  institution,  and  their  leaders  are  attempting  in 
every  way  to  mold  sentiment  for  the  complete 
abolition  of  the  custom. 

Child  labor  is  another  of  the  crying  social  evils 
to  be  found  throughout  the  Orient,  and  Moham- 
medanism has  had  no  word  of  protest  against  it. 
The  children  of  the  poor  begin  to  work  at  a  very 
early  age  and  are  robbed  of  proper  physical  and 
mental  development.  In  Muttra  we  saw  mere 
babes  of  four  years  gathering  cow  dung  on  the 
city  streets  and  were  informed  that  they  received 
but  four  cents  a  day  for  their  labor. 

Diseases,  especially  those  associated  with  loose 
sexual  relations  and  the  devastating  tropical 
scourges,  the  plague,  cholera,  smallpox,  besides 
tuberculosis,  claim  their  victims  by  hundreds  of 
thousands  in  India.  The  women  and  children,  of 
course,  succumb  most  quickly.  The  custom  of 
secluding  women,  especially  among  the  Moslems, 


198  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

has  a  very  direct  connection  with  the  awful  death 
rate  from  tuberculosis  among  their  females. 

The  Mohammedans  are  known  as  a  temperance 
people  and  are  very  strict  in  their  condemnation 
of  the  use  of  alcohol  in  all  its  forms.  That  they 
carry  out  their  principles  in  the  matter  in  actual 
practice  was  vividly  illustrated  one  day  when  on  a 
train  in  upper  Bengal  we  were  stopped  by  a  freight 
wreck.  We  left  our  car  and  went  ahead  to  see  the 
overturned  locomotive  under  which  lay  the  dead 
body  of  the  faithful  engineer.  Some  one  said, 
"The  engineer  must  have  been  drunk."  "No," 
quickly  answered  an  Englishman  standing  near 
by,  "that  could  not  be  true.  He  was  a  Moham- 
medan." Christian  nations  might  well  covet 
such  a  compliment  as  this  remark  implied.  On 
these  and  other  social  questions,  the  Indian  Mos- 
lems seem  to  be  awakening,  though  in  their  theo- 
logical thinking  the  movement,  as  has  been  else- 
where indicated,  is  toward  a  stricter  orthodoxy. 

The  Future  of  Islam 

A  most  important  angle  from  which  to  study 
Islam  in  its  practical  aspects  is  that  of  its  po- 
litical ambitions  and  progress.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  Mohammed  in  his  day  desired 
to  dominate  neighboring  countries  as  well  as 
Arabia,  and  he  also  may  have  had  an  ambition 
to  rule  the  entire  world.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  with  the  Prophet  himself,  however, 
Islam   was   not  long   in   acquiring   an   insatiable 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  199 

ambition  for  world  conquest,  and  that,  by  the 
sword.  Undreamed  of  success  attended  early 
efforts  to  this  end,  and  within  a  hundred  years 
after  the  death  of  its  founder  the  undertaking 
was  well  under  way.  So  rapidly  have  the  Mo- 
hammedans continued  to  evangelize  that  to-day 
they  number  nearly  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
million  and  the  faith  is  still  spreading  and  growing 
in  extraordinary  fashion.  But  with  the  increase 
in  numbers  has  come  a  loss  of  political  power, 
for  Christian  nations  have  so  conquered  the 
various  countries  in  which  Islam  is  represented, 
that  more  than  three  fourths  of  the  followers 
of  the  Prophet  are  now  living  under  the  govern- 
mental control  of  the  hated  Christian  dogs. 
But  the  old  Arabian  dream  has  not  been  for- 
gotten, for  out  of  all  the  bitter  disappointments 
and  frustrated  hopes  has  come  the  modern  cry 
of  "Pan-Islam."  The  ancient  fanatical  spirit  is 
by  no  means  dead,  though  it  expresses  itself  in 
a  somewhat  modern  guise.  In  reality,  however, 
this  movement,  if  it  is  to  mean  anything,  will 
necessarily  have  to  take  on  a  most  reactionary 
form  w^ith  an  appeal  to  the  infallible  authority 
of  the  Koran,  and  a  program  of  conquest  by 
force.  Mohammedan  leaders  of  real  insight  are 
so  few  and  the  multitudes  so  ignorant,  supersti- 
tious, and  fanatical,  that  any  program  embodying 
high  intellectual,  ethical,  and  social  ideals  at 
this  time  would  be  entirely  without  any  far- 
reaching  appeal. 


200  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

But  is  a  modern  "holy  war"  among  the  possi- 
bihties?  The  answer  to  the  question  must  be 
affirmative,  for  the  Moslem  world  is  permeated 
with  this  wild  fanaticism.  During  our  winter  in 
India  just  after  the  present  European  war  began, 
there  were  frequent  inklings  of  the  disarmament 
of  native  military  companies  and  of  local  up- 
risings. At  Rangoon,  a  few  days  after  the  Singa- 
pore massacre  in  February,  1914,  the  Mohamme- 
dans appeared  to  be  greatly  agitated  and  gathered 
on  the  streets  in  crowds,  doubtless  excited  by 
false  rumors  of  a  successful  uprising  in  Malaysia. 
So  the  spirit  of  holy  war  still  dominates  Islam. 
But  a  revival  of  missionary  propaganda  by  the 
sword  is  scarcely  probable,  and  should  it  be 
undertaken,  the  issue  would  be  certain  failure. 
Lack  of  efficient  leadership,  wide  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  the  true  interpretation  of  Moham- 
medan doctrine,  diversity  of  national  ideals,  lack 
of  organization,  and  most  of  all  small  hope  of  a 
favorable  outcome  for  such  a  gigantic  under- 
taking as  the  uprising  of  all  Islam,  besides  many 
other  considerations,  would  tend  to  disintegrate  a 
movement  of  this  kind,  even  if  a  Moslem  war 
on  the  Christian  world  should  be  declared.  There 
is  always  danger  in  prophecy,  especially  when  the 
prophet  fails  to  weigh  concrete  conditions  and 
is  led  astray  by  abstractions.  In  view  of  the 
last  two  and  a  half  years  of  history,  no  better 
illustration  of  this  fact  could  be  cited  than  the 
statement   of  Mr.  Carl  Peters,  quoted   by  Pro- 


THE  MOSLEM  MILLIONS  201 

fessor  Vambery  in  The  Nineteenth  Century 
(October,  1906),  and  later  by  Dr.  S.  M.  Zwemer 
in  Islam:  A  Challenge  to  Faith  (1907).  This 
African  traveler  said:  "There  is  one  factor  which 
might  fall  on  our  side  of  the  balance  and  in  the 
case  of  a  world  war  might  be  made  useful  to  us: 
that  factor  is  Islam.  As  Pan-Islamism  it  could 
be  played  against  Great  Britain  as  well  as  against 
the  French  republic,  and  if  German  policy  is 
bold  enough,  it  can  fashion  the  dynamite  to  blow 
into  the  air  the  rule  of  Western  powers,  from  Cape 
Nun  [Morocco]  to  Calcutta."  Germany  was 
"bold  enough"  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the 
Turks,  and  many  of  the  more  ignorant  Moslems 
were  led  to  believe  that  the  Kaiser  had  been 
converted  to  Mohammedanism.  And  holy  war 
was  proclaimed  at  the  Mosque  of  Mohammed  in 
Constantinople  from  which  word  was  sent  to 
every  corner  of  the  Moslem  world.  But  the 
great  uprising  never  materialized,  and  to-day 
Mohammedans  are  fighting  each  other  in  Europe 
just  as  are  the  Christians. 

While,  then,  there  is  little  prospect  of  a  great 
armed  conflict  between  the  Christian  nations 
and  the  Mohammedan  world,  yet  there  is  still  a 
"Moslem  peril."  It  is  the  peril  of  ignorance,  su- 
perstition, and  fanaticism,  with  all  their  dire  im- 
plications. It  is  the  peril  of  retarded  civilization 
and  social  injustice.  The  forces  that  make  for  life 
and  light,  therefore,  need  to  be  enlisted  in  a  cam- 
paign of  education  and  Christianization  against 


202  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

such  a  menace.  Experience  proves  that  many 
difficulties  and  comparatively  meager  results  at- 
tend direct  attempts  toward  the  Christian  evangeli- 
zation of  the  Moslem  world.  But  it  also  proves 
that  indirectly  through  Christian  governments, 
educational  efforts,  medical  assistance,  and  social 
service  the  spirit  of  Mohammedanism  can  be 
changed  for  the  better,  and  leaders  within  the 
faith  can  be  enlisted  to  take  up  the  task  of  purg- 
ing their  religion  of  its  worst  evils.  In  this  method 
of  indirection  lies  our  largest  hope  for  the  millions 
of  Moslems.  The  situation  in  India,  moreover, 
is  so  far  superior  to  that  of  Arabia,  Egypt,  Africa, 
and  other  Mohammedan  countries  as  to  reveal 
the  true  value  of  this  method  and  to  furnish  a 
basis  for  an  optimistic  judgment  for  the  future. 

REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  MOHAMMEDANISM 

Mohammed:  Meredith  Townsend. 

Heroes  and  Hero  Worship  (The  Hero  as  a  Prophet) : 

Thomas  Carlyle. 
Mohammedanism:  C.  S.  Hurgronje. 
Mohammedanism:  D.  S.  Margoliouth. 
The  Religion  of  the  Crescent:  W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall. 
The  Faith  of  Islam:  E.  Sell. 
The  Teachings  of  Islam :  Mirza  Ghulam  Ahmad. 
Islam:  A  Challenge  to  Faith:  Samuel  M.  Zwemer. 
The  Moslem  Christ:  Samuel  M.  Zwemer. 
Childhood  in  the  Moslem  World:  Samuel  M.  Zwemer. 
Christianity  and  Islam:  C.  H.  Becker. 
Daylight  in  the  Harem:  Annie  Van  Sommer. 
Aspects  of  Islam:  D.  B.  MacDonald. 
Modern  Movements  Among  Moslems:  S.  G.  Wilson. 
The  Koran  (translated  by  G.  Sale). 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS 


Now  I  proclaim  to  you  the  Most  High  of  all. — 

Zoroaster. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS 

Probably  no  religion  in  the  world  presents  so 
many  similarities  to  our  own  faith  as  does 
Zoroastrianism.  In  view  of  this  fact,  and  that 
we  may  get  a  more  vivid  impression  of  the  beliefs 
and  practices  of  that  sect,  our  study  of  this  re- 
ligion will  be  thrown  into  the  form  of  a  conversa- 
tion between  a  wealthy  Parsee  scholar  and  his 
friend,  a  Christian  tourist  visiting  India  for  the 
first  time.  The  Parsee  has  just  arrived  at  the 
Taj  Mahal  Hotel  in  the  city  of  Bombay  for  an 
early  morning  call,  and  the  two  start  immediately 
for  a  day  of  sight-seeing,  engaging  meanwhile  in 
an  interesting  discussion  of  the  history,  doctrines, 
and  customs  of  the  so-called  Fire  Worshipers. 
We  will  listen  as  they  talk. 

Parsee:  Good  morning  and  welcome  to  India. 
It  seems  almost  an  age  since  we  last  met  in  London 
five  years  ago.  I  hope  you  have  had  a  good  night's 
rest  after  your  long  journey  from  Madras,  and 
that  you  enjoyed  your  choata  ka^ri.^  If  you  are 
not  too  tired,  suppose  we  begin  this  morning  to 
see  Bombay.  I  would  suggest  that  we  walk  to 
Malabar  Hill  first  and  view  the  famous  Towers 
of  Silence.    This  trip  will  also  give  us  an  unusual 

^  Early  morning  light  breakfast. 

205 


206  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

opportunity  for  the  discussion  of  Parseeism  in 
its  own  environment. 

Christian:  I  certainly  am  glad  to  see  you 
again,  for  I  confess  that  absence  from  America 
for  more  than  two  months  without  meeting  a 
close  friend  has  made  me  a  little  homesick.  Your 
presence  here  this  morning  has  already  dissipated 
the  gloom  and  I  shall  take  a  new  interest  in  won- 
derful India.  Let  us  start  at  once  for  Malabar 
Hill,  as  you  suggest,  and  suppose  on  the  way 
you  begin  by  telling  me  something  of  the  history 
of  your  faith. 

Par  see:  Very  well.  Let  us  walk  out  Lansdowne 
to  Queen's  Road,  and  thence  to  the  Towers.  You 
have  asked  about  our  history  and  I  will  try  to 
outline  it  briefly.  You  know,  of  course,  that  our 
ancestors  came  originally  from  Persia.  There 
lived  many  centuries  before  the  birth  of  your 
Christ  a  prehistoric  race  on  the  plateau  of  the 
Hindu  Kush.  From  this  region,  due  doubtless 
to  severe  climatic  changes,  there  took  place  two 
important  migrations,  one  southward  to  India 
and  another  westward  to  what  we  now  call  Persia. 
The  latter  group  formed  the  Persian  empire  and 
flourished  there  until  the  conquest  of  the  land 
by  the  Arabs  in  A.  D.  720.  Following  this  event 
an  era  of  dreadful  Mohammedan  persecution  en- 
sued, and  some  of  these  vanquished  Persians 
abandoned  their  native  land  and  emigrated  to 
India,  settling  at  first  in  Gujurat  and  later  in 
and  around  the  city  of  Bombay.     This  briefly 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  207 

sums  up  the  main  facts  as  to  the  early  history 
of  the  people  called  Parsees  (Persians)  now  living 
in  Western  India. 

Christian:  Your  account  is  most  interesting, 
but  you  have  not  mentioned  the  name  of  your 
great  Master,  Zoroaster.  I  have  read  a  httle 
about  him,  but  should  like  to  hear  from  one  of 
his  followers  the  essential  facts  of  his  life.  There 
is,  I  believe,  some  dispute  as  to  the  period  in 
which  he  lived. 

Par  see:  You  have  anticipated  me.  I  was  just 
about  to  begin  the  story  of  Zoroaster  or,  Zarathush- 
tra,  as  he  is  sometimes  called.  Yes,  no  one  knows 
exactly  when  our  great  leader  did  live,  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  was  a  real  historical  character. 
Some  writers  claim  that  Zoroaster  lived  a  thousand 
years,  or  even  more,  before  Christ,  but  the  prob- 
ability is  that  he  was  born  somewhere  in  north- 
west Persia  about  589  and  died  about  B.  C.  513. 
Many  myths  and  legends,  such  as  those  of  his 
miraculous  birth  and  works,  have  been  handed 
down  by  tradition  in  connection  with  the  life  of 
this  great  man,  but  I  will  give  you  only  a  few 
of  the  best  authenticated  facts  of  his  life.  It  is 
quite  clear  that  much  of  the  success  of  this 
leader  was  due  to  the  fact  that  when  he  was 
about  forty-two  years  of  age  he  converted  and 
enhsted  in  his  cause  King  Vishtaspa,  and  later 
was  able  also  to  win  Queen  Hutaosa  for  the  new 
faith.  Through  these  and  other  influential  pa- 
trons  he   was   greatly   helped   in   spreading   and 


208  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

organizing  the  new  religion.  It  was  King  Vish- 
taspa  who  had  the  teachings  of  Zoroaster  recorded 
on  twelve  thousand  cowhides  and  deposited  in  a 
vault  at  Persepolis,  where  a  specially  appointed 
guard  watched  over  them  day  and  night.  In 
spite  of  this  friendship  and  encouragement,  how- 
ever, Zoroaster  was  opposed  by  the  priestly 
classes,  who  condemned  his  purer  teachings  as 
the  rawest  heresy;  the  opposition  soon  developed 
into  actual  persecution,  but  through  it  all  he 
kept  his  faith  in  God  and  remained  true.  Tra- 
dition says  that  he  died  a  violent  death  at  the 
hands  of  these  priests. 

Christian:  You  have  given  me  a  glimpse  into 
Parsee  history  and  have  told  me  about  Zoroaster. 
Now  may  I  ask  about  your  Bible?  I  believe  you 
call  your  sacred  literature  the  Zend  Avesta. 

Parsee:  Strictly  speaking,  The  Avesta,  for 
"Zend"  means  interpretation  or  commentary,  and 
this  portion  of  our  scriptures  is  not  strictly  speak- 
ing a  part  of  the  sacred  wTitings.  The  Avesta, 
the  real  "book  of  knowledge,"  consists  of  five  parts 
as  follows:  The  Yasna,  Vispered,  Yashts,  Vendidad, 
and  the  Khordah  Avesta.  Originally  the  literature 
upon  which  the  Avesta  is  based  was  recorded  on 
the  twelve  thousand  cowhides  of  which  I  told 
you,  but  these  were  destroyed,  according  to  tra- 
dition, by  the  Greeks  under  Alexander  the  Great, 
three  centuries  before  Christ.  Afterward  a  coun- 
cil of  priests  was  called  and  our  present  sacred 
literature  was  reproduced  from  their  remembrance 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  209 

of  the  ancient  documents.  The  Gathas  are  the 
most  ancient  writings  of  all.  They  form  a  part  of 
the  Yasna,  and  are  considered  to  be  direct  revela- 
tions from  God  to  Zoroaster.  Our  scriptures 
differ  somewhat  from  yours  in  that  they  consist 
mainly  of  ritual,  praise,  and  prayers,  although, 
like  your  Old  Testament,  the  Vendidad  lays  down 
multitudinous  rules  as  to  sacrifices,  expiations,  and 
purifications. 

Christian:  I  read  a  book  some  time  ago  in  which 
the  author  expressed  it  as  his  opinion  that  our 
Christian  Bible  was  derived  largely  from  ancient 
Persian  literature.  What  is  your  judgment  as 
to  the  truth  of  this? 

Parsee:  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  teachings 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews  were  affected  to  some 
extent,  especially  after  the  exile,  by  Persian  in- 
fluence, and  that  likewise  Persian  beliefs  were 
modified  by  the  doctrines  of  Israel.  We  shall 
see  this  more  clearly  as  we  note  the  similarities 
in  the  essential  beliefs  of  the  two  systems.  How- 
ever, it  is  my  judgment  that  the  teachings  of  both 
the  Hebrews  and  the  Persians  were  wrought  out 
in  the  main  independently.  Their  likeness  is, 
therefore,  all  the  more  striking.  But  when  you 
compare  the  Vedas  of  the  Brahmans  with  the 
Avesta,  it  appears  quite  conclusively  that  both 
came  from  one  source,  although  in  the  actual  de- 
velopment of  these  two  faiths  there  are  to  be 
found  many  opposing  elements. 

Christian:  You  used  the  word  "God"  a  moment 


210  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

ago  in  connection  with  your  discussion  of  the 
Avesta.  Is  it  possible  that  you  believe  in  a  God 
similar  to  ours?  You  are  called  "Fire  Worshipers," 
and  I  have  understood  that  you  were  really  de- 
votees of  nature. 

Parsee:  Ah,  I  see  you  have  been  misled  just 
as  thousands  of  others  have  through  superficial 
observation  or  by  reading  critics  like  Dr.  John 
Wilson.  We  are  frequently  but  wrongly  called 
"Fire  Worshipers,"  for  the  fire  that  we  keep 
burning  in  our  fire  temples  and  in  our  homes  is 
simply  a  symbol — one  of  the  best,  we  think — of 
God's  glory  and  power.  Likewise  we  consider 
earth,  air,  and  water  as  expressions  of  his  power 
and  wisdom.  Hence  our  great  reverence  for  these 
four  primal  elements.  It  is  quite  possible,  however, 
that  our  ancestors  in  the  early  dawn  of  history 
formed  their  religious  conceptions  from  their 
observations  of  the  various  manifestations  of  na- 
ture, and  that  they  personified  sun,  moon,  stars, 
daylight  and  darkness,  clouds,  winds  and  storms, 
and  the  passing  of  the  seasons.  But  it  is  also 
true  that  our  religion  to-day  embodies  concep- 
tions of  such  a  high  ethical  and  spiritual  order 
that  they  can  in  no  sense  be  characterized  as 
naturalistic,  whatever  may  have  been  their  source 
or  the  process  of  their  development.  Your  own 
religion,  I  think  you  will  admit,  also  is  under 
this  same  law  of  growth.  It  may  be  interesting 
to  you  to  know  that  there  is  a  striking  correspond- 
ence between  Christianity  and  Zoroastrianism  in 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  ^11 

the  supernatural  beings  that  influence  our  lives. 
We  believe  in  God  as  you  do.  Our  name  for 
him  is  Ahura  Madza.  We  also  believe  in  the 
devil.  Our  name  for  him  is  Ahriman.  We  also 
believe  in  angels,  especially  in  those  seven  who 
act  as  the  close  and  confidential  ministers  of 
Ahura  Madza.  Ahura  Madza  is  the  one  Lord 
and  Creator  of  the  universe,  all-wise  and  power- 
ful, perfect,  good-minded,  and  righteous  in  all 
his  acts.  Ahriman  is  a  murderer,  a  liar,  the  great 
deceiver  of  mankind.  The  seven  archangels  are 
really  personifications  of  the  attributes  of  Ahura 
Madza  and  are  constantly  busy  doing  his  will. 
They  are  Benevolent  Mind,  Perfect  Holiness,  Ex- 
cellent Rulership,  Devotion,  the  pair.  Health  and 
Immortality,  and  Obedience. 

Christian:  Your  words  interest  me  greatly  and 
stir  within  me  a  desire  to  hear  you  discuss  your 
principal  beliefs.  What  is  Parseeism  in  essence? 
Have  you  any  statement  of  beliefs  such  as  we 
have  in  our  "Apostles'  Creed". '^ 

Parsee:  If  I  were  required  to  put  in  just  one 
statement  the  faith  of  the  Parsees,  I  would  say 
"Good  thoughts,  good  words,  good  deeds,"  for 
this  is  the  essence  of  our  religion.  This  is  stated 
in  a  rather  more  elaborate  form  in  our  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Creed  which  I  will  now  quote  for 
you.  The  Confession  runs  like  this:  "I  am  a 
worshiper  of  Ahura  Madza,  I  am  a  Zoroastrian 
worshiper  of  Him.  I  agree  to  praise  the  Zo- 
roastrian religion  and  to  believe  in  that  religion. 


21  g  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

I  praise  good  thoughts,  I  praise  good  words,  I 
praise  good  deeds.  I  praise  the  good  religion  of 
Ahura  Madza  which  allays  dissensions  and  quar- 
rels, which  brings  about  kinship  and  brotherhood, 
which  is  holy,  which  is  the  greatest,  the  best,  and 
most  excellent  of  all  religions  that  exist  and  that 
shall  in  the  future  exist,  and  which  is  the  religion 
revealed  by  Ahura  Madza  to  Zoroaster.  I  ascribe 
all  good  to  Ahura  Madza.  This  is  the  profession 
of  the  religion  of  Ahura  Madza."  Our  Creed  is 
very  short,  but  I  believe  you  will  note  at  once 
its  comprehensiveness:  'T  believe  in  the  existence 
of  Ahura  Madza,  the  all- wise  Lord;  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  and  in  our  personal  re- 
sponsibihty  for  our  thoughts,  words,  and 
actions." 

Christian:  Surely,  no  one  could  take  exception 
to  such  fine  ideals  as  these.  They  coincide  exactly 
with  the  teachings  of  my  own  religion,  but  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  you  go  a  step  farther  and 
tell  me  how  these  noble  ends  are  to  be  attained. 
Is  it  not  true,  as  our  Saint  Paul  once  said,  "The 
good  that  I  would  do  I  do  not,  but  the  evil  which 
I  would  not  that  I  do".'*  In  just  a  word,  what 
appeal  does  your  religion  make  to  the  will  that 
men  may  learn  to  love  and  do  these  things .^^  Chris- 
tianity centers,  as  you  know,  in  Christ,  and  it 
is  our  belief  that  somehow  when  the  Christian 
comes  into  vital  relationship  with  him  not  only 
through  the  teachings  and  example  of  his  life 
but  also  through  his  death  and  resurrection,  a 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  213 

new  and  stronger  motive  is  born  within  the  soul. 
This  contact  with  Christ  thus  brings  a  fresh  power 
into  the  Hfe  and  puts  the  whole  problem  of  religion 
on  the  plane  of  a  friendship  relation  with  love  as 
the  dominating  motive.  Without  this  we  hold 
that  righteousness  may  be  formally  but  not 
vitally  realizable.  Have  you  any  teaching  in 
Parseeism  corresponding  to  this.f^ 

Parsee:  What  you  have  just  been  saying  has 
frequently  been  a  subject  of  serious  reflection 
with  me.  Our  leading  scholars  all  admit  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  wonderful  teacher  and  a  most 
worthy  example,  and  even  in  our  own  traditions 
there  is  a  prophecy  of  a  restoring  Saviour  who 
is  to  be  born  of  a  virgin  in  some  later  period  of 
the  world's  life.  Inspired  by  this  Messianic  hope, 
you  will  remember  that  our  Magi  made  a  pil- 
grimage all  the  way  to  Bethlehem  to  see  your 
infant  Jesus.  Moreover,  the  value  of  motive  and 
the  need  for  a  reenforcement  of  our  weak  human 
wills  ought  to  be  apparent  to  any  thinking  man. 
But  the  possibility  of  such  a  mystical  union  of 
the  believer  with  Christ  is  hard  for  me  to  com- 
prehend. Perhaps  this  is  because  the  Parsees  have 
always  emphasized  tremendously  the  practical 
side  of  religion  and  may  thus  have  overlooked 
some  of  its  deeper  and  more  vital  aspects.  How- 
ever, I  will  give  you  a  quotation  from  our  Cate- 
chism that  sums  up  our  whole  view  as  to  this 
matter  of  salvation: 

"Question:     Then,    according   to   the   teaching 


214  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  our  religion,  there  is  no  saviour  for  one  other 
than  himself? 

"Answer:  Of  course  not.  Every  man  is  his 
own  saviour.  His  deeds  alone  will  bring  out  his 
salvation.  A  man  is  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortune.    He  is  his  own  saviour." 

Christian:  That  is  very  much  like  our  "Work 
out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling." 
You  stop  at  this  point  in  your  teaching,  but  we 
add,  "for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  The  first  clause 
represents  human  endeavor  and  the  second  divine 
power.  Thus  salvation  through  Christ  with  us 
is  a  cooperative  and  necessary  process. 

Parsee:  Yes,  I  follow  your  exposition  and  see 
the  need  of  the  larger  motive.  However,  you 
must  admit  that  we  Parsees  have  a  splendid 
record  from  the  standpoint  of  progress  and  attain- 
ment in  morals.  You  see  our  system  throws  the 
responsibility  strongly  on  the  individual,  for  every 
man  knows  that  at  the  last  he  must  stand  on 
Chin  vat  Bridge. 

Christian:   What  is  Chin  vat  Bridge.'* 

Parsee:  It  is  the  bridge  that  connects  earth 
with  heaven.  On  this  bridge  the  final  Judgment 
takes  place.  After  death  the  Parsee's  soul  re- 
mains here  in  the  world  for  three  days.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  third  night  he  must  appear  at 
Chinvat  Bridge  before  the  angel  Judge,  Meher, 
who  is  assisted  by  two  other  angels,  Rashne  and 
Astad  [Justice  and  Truth].     Meher  holds  in  his 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  215 

hands  a  pair  of  scales  in  which  he  scrupulously 
weighs  the  good  and  evil  actions  of  the  man's 
past  hfe.  If  the  good  deeds  outweigh  the  evil 
ones,  he  passes  across  the  bridge  into  heaven. 
But  if  his  evil  deeds  prove  the  heavier,  he  is  cast 
off  the  bridge  into  the  yawning  abyss  of  hell 
beneath.  If,  however,  the  scales  balance  evenly, 
the  soul  is  sent  to  Hamast-gehan,  a  place  corre- 
sponding to  the  purgatory  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith.  From  this  brief  description  of  final  judg- 
ment you  have  already  seen  how  closely  some  of 
our  fundamental  beliefs  approach  those  of  Chris- 
tianity. Take  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  for 
example.  This  is  very  clearly  wrought  out  even 
in  the  ancient  Gathas.  Indeed,  it  was  more 
definitely  taught  by  our  ancestors  than  by  the 
Hebrews  prior  to  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our 
view  of  human  life  is  also  much  the  same  as  yours. 
In  the  outer  world  we  see  a  great  struggle  going 
on  between  physical  forces.  In  the  inner  world 
of  the  soul  there  is  a  like  fierce  conflict  between 
spiritual  forces.  Struggle,  then,  is  the  order  of 
the  universe.  Two  principles  are  at  war,  the 
good  and  the  evil,  backed  by  the  personalities 
Ahura  Madza  and  Ahriman.  So  there  is  no 
Oriental  fatalism  in  our  religion,  but  an  ever- 
lasting fight  between  the  powers  of  darkness  and 
those  of  light.  To  such  an  extent  has  this  philos- 
ophy of  life  been  emphasized  in  Zoroastrianism 
that  critics  say  our  system  hopelessly  breaks  down 
and  that  this  dualism  can  never  be  reconciled. 


216  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

Ahura  Madza  has  a  rival  in  Ahriman,  and,  there- 
fore, our  God  is  not  all-powerful.  But  such  a 
view  reveals  a  lack  of  sympathetic  understanding 
of  our  teaching.  Ahura  Madza  is  the  all-powerful 
One  behind  the  two  opposing  principles  of  good 
and  evil.  The  latter  he  uses  to  work  out  his 
purposes  of  righteousness.  Ahriman  is  neither 
omniscient  nor  almighty,  and  whatever  limita- 
tions may  appear  in  the  being  of  Ahura  Madza 
are  self-imposed  for  the  sake  of  his  creative  moral 
purpose.  You  also  have  a  God  and  a  devil  in 
your  own  religion,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  Chris- 
tians likewise,  if  they  hold  that  the  devil  is  the 
author  of  evil,  are  open  to  this  same  criticism. 

Christian:  While  your  charge  of  dualism  as 
against  Christianity  would  not  be  admitted  by 
all  our  Christian  thinkers,  your  discussion  shows 
me  that  you  believe  in  the  fact  of  sin  and  that 
our  lives  are  in  a  constant  struggle  with  tempta- 
tion. Please  tell  me  what  part  man  plays  in  this 
scheme  of  things.  Is  he  just  an  automaton  taking 
a  fatalistic  part  in  a  dumb  show,  or  has  he  free- 
dom of  choice  and  is  the  struggle  serious  and  real? 

Par  see:  The  struggle  is  real  and  man  is  a 
free  moral  agent  to  choose  or  reject  the  right. 
As  to  sin  we  believe  that  it  grows  in  its  influence 
and  dire  consequences  with  the  passage  of  time. 
The  same  law  holds  for  righteousness.  Hence 
the  Zoroastrians  exhort  young  men  to  choose 
the  right  early  in  life,  that  their  good  deeds  may 
accumulate  before  they  are  called  to  stand  on 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  217 

Cliinvat  Bridge.  Forgiveness  is  offered  in  return 
for  the  expiation  of  offenses  by  penances.  Of 
these  penances  flagellation  and  offerings  of  the 
materials  used  in  worship  were  the  most  common 
in  the  old  days.  Some  sins,  especially  those 
having  to  do  with  the  contamination  of  earth, 
fire,  or  water  with  dead  bodies,  are  unforgivable. 
It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  if  a  heathen  com- 
mit even  one  of  these  deadly  sins  and  afterward 
with  true  repentance  becomes  a  convert  to 
Zoroastrianism,  his  guilt  is  thereby  covered. 

Christian:  And  what  are  the  Parsee  notions 
of  heaven  and  helLf^  Are  these  actual  places  or 
only  states  of  the  soul.^ 

Parsee:  Our  theology,  as  you  have  already 
gathered,  is  highly  practical  and  ethical,  none  the 
less  do  we  place  large  emphasis  upon  the  inner  soul- 
condition  resulting  from  the  observance  or  non- 
observance  of  spiritual  laws.  But  the  Avesta 
teaches  also  that  there  are  such  places  as  heaven 
and  hell.  Heaven  is  described  as  a  place  of 
everlasting  and  ineffable  glory,  while  hell  is  one 
of  torments  where  the  sinner  reaps  the  conse- 
quences of  his  deeds  much  after  the  fashion  of 
the  condemned  in  Dante's  Inferno. 

Christian:  Among  some  Christian  theologians 
there  is  much  debate  as  to  whether  or  not  there 
is  to  be  a  second  probation  in  the  world  here- 
after for  earth's  finally  impenitent.  What  is  the 
Parsee  view  on  this  point.'^ 

Parsee;  Hell  and  heaven  with  us  are  only  tern- 


218  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

porary  arrangements,  so  to  speak.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  the  Saviour  to  whom  I  have  ah'eady" 
made  reference  will  come,  and  all  the  dead,  both 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  shall  rise  and  assume 
once  more  their  bodily  form.  Afterward  the  fire 
will  melt  the  metal  of  the  mountains  into  a  great 
stream  in  which  all  are  made  pure.  Ahura  Madza 
will  then  throttle  Ahriman,  and  hell  itself  shall 
be  purged  with  the  molten  metal.  Finally  all 
persons  and  things  having  been  thus  purified, 
the  world  is  to  be  restored  and  the  time  condi- 
tion forever  destroyed.  The  present  order  of 
things  will  thus  become  eternal,  and  all  human 
beings  blessed  forevermore. 

Christian:  Well,  we  have  devoted  considerable 
time  to  theological  doctrines.  Let  us  now  turn 
for  a  while  to  the  ceremonial  side  of  your  re- 
ligion. Will  you  not  describe  some  of  these  cere- 
monies and  also  interpret  their  meaning,  for  I  find 
that  careless  observers  frequently  do  a  religious 
sect  great  injustice  by  their  hasty  conclusions  as 
to  the  significance  of  certain  peculiar  rites,  the 
symbolism  of  which  entirely  escapes  them. 

Parsee:  Yes,  what  you  say  is  true,  and  I  some- 
times think  that  Pars^eism  has  suffered  most 
of  all  from  the  type  of  critics  you  mention.  Yon- 
der is  Malabar  Hill,  but  I  will  have  time  to  tell 
you  something  about  our  principal  ceremonies 
before  we  reach  the  Towers.  The  Naojote  cere- 
mony is  the  initiation  of  a  Parsee  child  into  the 
fold  of  Zoroastrianism.     It  corresponds  to  your 


v-* 


ill. 


M^-l 


s 


■-^r^ 


>  > 


■I  > 


o 


o 

PS 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  219 

rites  of  baptism  or  confirmation.  The  symbols 
used  in  this  ceremony  are  two,  the  sudrah  or 
sacred  shirt,  and  the  kusti,  or  sacred  thread.  A 
true  Zoroastrian  must  always  wear  these  two 
articles  except  when  he  bathes.  When  the  Parsee 
child  reaches  the  age  of  seven  the  priest  is  called 
to  the  home  and  the  ceremony  of  investiture  with 
these  symbols  takes  place.  The  child,  after  the 
sacred  bath,  is  called  upon  to  recite  the  Declara- 
tion of  Faith  and  then  assumes  the  sacred  shirt. 
Next  comes  a  joint  recital  of  a  prayer  by  priest 
and  child,  both  facing  the  rising  or  the  setting 
sun,  after  which  the  sacred  thread  is  tied  about 
the  novitiate's  waist.  He  then  recites  the  Articles 
of  Faith,  and  the  ceremony  is  completed.  The 
rite,  however,  is  full  of  meaning,  The  shirt  is 
made  of  two  different  pieces  of  cloth,  one  for  the 
front  part  and  the  other  for  the  back.  They 
represent  the  past  and  the  future  and  enforce, 
on  the  one  hand,  our  duties  to  our  ancestors  and 
superiors  and,  on  the  other,  our  obligations  to 
the  coming  generations  and  our  inferiors.  Just 
below  the  throat  on  the  shirt  there  is  a  bag  or 
purse  to  remind  us  of  the  virtue  of  industry  in 
money  matters  and  also  of  our  duty  to  accumu- 
late good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  deeds. 
The  thread  is  even  more  complex  in  its  symbolism. 
It  is  really  a  belt  woven  out  of  seventy-two 
smaller  threads  which  are  separated  at  the  ends 
into  three  tassels  each  with  twenty-four  threads. 
The  seventy-two  threads  stand  for  the  seventy- 


2^0  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

two  chapters  of  the  Yasna.  The  twenty-four 
threads  of  each  tassel  represent  the  twenty-four 
parts  of  the  Visparad.  The  hollow  of  the  belt 
symbolizes  the  space  between  earth  and  heaven. 
The  twisting  recalls  the  blending  of  the  material 
and  spiritual  elements  in  human  life.  Even  the 
lamb's  wool  of  which  the  belt  is  made  and  the 
weaving  have  significance.  As  a  constant  re- 
minder of  his  duties  the  Parsee  is  required  to 
untie  and  retie  the  belt  five  times  a  day  at  speci- 
fied intervals.  In  general,  the  girding  of  the  body 
with  the  sacred  thread  signifies  the  readiness  of 
the  Zoroastrian  to  work  for  God  and  to  do  his 
full  duty. 

Another  ceremony  in  which  you  will  be  in- 
terested, I  am  sure,  is  that  of  marriage.  Ele- 
ments from  both  the  Hindus  and  the  English,  as 
well  as  many  popular  customs,  have  modified 
this  ceremony,  but  the  teachings  of  our  Persian 
ancestors  are  still  distinguishable,  especially  in  its 
strictly  religious  parts.  The  priests,  because  of 
their  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  people,  are 
the  match-makers  of  the  Parsees,  and  furnish 
suggestions  and  recommendation  to  the  parents 
of  the  boy  who  is  seeking  marriage.  The  matter 
is  then  followed  up  and  the  astrologer  is  consulted. 
If,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  horoscopes 
of  both  the  boy  and  girl  in  question,  he  makes  a 
favorable  decision  there  is  a  betrothal,  followed 
later  by  the  wedding.  If,  however,  he  finds  a  lack 
of  harmony  in  the  horoscopes,  he  makes  a  negative 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  221 

decision  and  the  negotiations  are  dropped  at  once. 
There  is  no  particular  ceremony  marking  the 
engagement  of  a  couple  beyond  the  exchange  of 
presents  of  clothing,  but  such  an  engagement 
is  held  as  sacredly  binding.  At  the  convenience 
of  the  parties  concerned  and  when,  with  the 
help  of  the  astrologer,  a  lucky  day  has  been 
selected,  the  marriage  is  celebrated.  Large  parties 
are  held  on  the  day  of  the  wedding  at  the  homes 
of  both  the  bride  and  the  bridegroom.  Then 
just  at  sunset  those  who  have  gathered  at  the 
home  of  the  bridegroom  proceed  with  him  to  the 
bride's  home,  where  the  marriage  ceremony  takes 
place  in  the  evening.  The  bridegroom  is  dressed 
in  a  white  ceremonial  flowing  robe  and  carries 
on  his  arm  a  shawl,  as  a  token  of  respect.  Both 
bride  and  bridegroom  wear  garlands  of  flowers 
about  their  necks,  and  on  the  forehead  of  the 
former  appears  a  round  spot  of  red  paint;  on  the 
bridegroom's  forehead  there  is  a  long  vertical 
mark  of  the  same  color.  Like  your  Christian 
marriage  ceremony,  elements  of  both  a  practical 
and  popular  sort  as  well  as  of  strictly  religious 
nature  make  up  a  Parsee  wedding.  Of  the  pop- 
ular customs  several  might  be  mentioned.  Hand- 
fastening  consists  in  tying  the  right  hands  of 
the  couple  together  as  they  sit  opposite  each 
other  separated  only  by  a  curtain.  The  marriage 
knot  is  made  by  binding  a  piece  of  cloth  seven 
times  around  the  two  chairs  of  the  bride  and 
groom  and  finally  knotting  the  ends.     Dropping 


J^^^  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  curtain  takes  place  after  the  hand-fastening 
and  marriage-knot  ceremonies  have  been  com- 
pleted by  the  two  officiating  priests.  Each  of 
these  acts  symbolizes  the  new  unity  emerging 
from  the  old  separateness.  Another  marriage 
custom  like  those  of  your  own  country  is  rice- 
throwing.  The  bride  and  groom  are  each  given 
a  few  grains  of  rice  in  their  left  hands  while  the 
right  hands  remain  bound  together.  The  one 
who  succeeds  first  in  throwing  his  rice  over  the 
head  of  the  other  will  lead  in  loving  and  respect- 
ing his  mate.  All  this  is  followed  by  the  formal 
religious  service,  in  which  prayers  are  said,  bene- 
dictions are  pronounced,  and  certain  questions 
asked  and  answered.  Two  questions  are  asked  by 
the  officiating  priests  of  the  witnesses  and  one  of 
the  contracting  parties.  The  witness  for  the  bride- 
groom must  answer  affirmatively  the  following: 

"In  the  presence  of  this  assembly  that  has  met 

together  in on day month  of 

the    year of    Emperor    Yazdgard    of    the 

Sassanian  dynasty  of  auspicious  Iran,  say  whether 

you  have  agreed  to  take  this  maiden by 

name,  in  marriage  for  this  bridegroom  in  accord- 
ance with  the  rites  and  rules  of  the  followers  of 
Ahura  Madza,  promising  to  pay  her  two  thousand 
dirams  of  pure  white  silver  and  two  dinars  of 
real  gold  of  Nishapore  coinage." 

The  witness  for  the  bride  is  then  called  upon 
to  answer  affirmatively  this  question: 

"Have   you    and   your   family    with    righteous 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  2^6 

mind  and  truthful  thoughts,  words,  and  actions 
and  for  the  increase  of  righteousness  agreed  to 
give,  forever,  this  bride  in  marriage  to ." 

Then  the  priest  turns  to  the  couple  and  says, 
"Have  you  preferred  to  enter  into  this  contract 
of  marriage  up  to  the  end  of  your  life  with  right- 
eous mind?"  To  which  both  reply,  "I  have  pre- 
ferred." The  service  closes  with  an  address  by 
the  priests. 

Christian:  I  begin  to  see  from  your  outline  of 
these  two  ceremonies  that  your  faith  is,  indeed, 
full  of  symbolism,  and  the  reasons  for  the  prevalent 
misconception  of  the  meaning  of  your  fire-worship 
becomes  clearer.  By  the  way,  will  you  not 
explain  this  peculiar  rite.?  I  think  you  will  have 
time  to  do  this  before  we  reach  the  steps  leading 
up  the  Hill. 

Par  see:  I  will  do  better  than  explain  the  matter. 
It  is  still  early  and  I  think  that  by  going  a  little 
out  of  our  way  to  one  of  the  fire  temples  I  can 
actually  show  you  this  unique  type  of  worship. 
We  will  turn  off,  then,  here  at  this  street.  Now, 
let  me  repeat  what  I  said  earlier  in  our  conversa- 
tion, that  the  Parsees  do  not  worship  the  actual 
fire,  but  the  God  whose  glory  and  power  this 
pure  element  best  symbolizes.  Please  remember 
also  that  in  the  Mosaic  days  of  your  religion  fire 
occupied  much  the  same  place  in  the  thought 
of  the  Hebrews  as  it  now  does  with  us.  The 
Lord  appeared  to  Moses  on  Mount  Horeb  "in  a 
flame  of  fire."     The  Ten   Commandments  were 


^M  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

given  to  Moses  when  the  Lord  descended  upon 
Sinai  "in  fire."  There  was  a  pillar  of  fire  to  guide 
the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness.  Indeed, 
this  expression  of  God's  power  and  presence  by 
fire  is  quite  common  in  the  Old  Testament.  So 
we  are  reminded  of  God  as  we  stand  before  the 
rising  or  the  setting  sun  and  as  we  worship  with 
the  sacred  flame  in  our  homes  or  the  altars  of 
our  fire  temples.  Of  course  many  of  the  more 
ignorant  of  our  people  may  worship  the  sun  it- 
self and  the  sacred  flame  itself,  but  this  idolatrous 
tendency  is  not  a  peculiarity  of  any  religion. 
It  is  common  to  all.  Even  in  your  Christian 
ceremony  of  baptism  with  water  it  is  not  at  all 
unusual  for  people  to  rest  in  the  symbol  rather 
than  in  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  sacrament. 
I  sometimes  have  heard  ignorant  Christians  speak 
of  the  water  as  saving  the  soul.  But  we  are  now 
approaching  the  temple,  and  I  see  that  it  is  open, 
so  we  will  step  inside.  Ah,  there  is  a  priest  sitting 
in  his  pure,  white  robe,  the  kusti  wound  around 
his  waist,  and  near  by  stands  the  vase  with  the 
sacred  flame  burning  there  on  the  ashes. 

Christian:  What  is  that  cloth  the  priest  has 
fastened  over  his  mouth  and  nose? 

Parsee:  That  is  intended  to  protect  the  holy 
fire  from  the  contamination  of  his  breath,  for 
we  believe  that  this  element  must  not  be  defiled 
by  anything  impure.  See  the  priest  has  begun 
the  service.  He  is  going  to  make  the  Haoma 
sacrifice.     On  that  stone  table  are  the  various 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  225 

utensils  used  in  this  peculiar  worship — the  fire 
tongs,  ladle,  knife,  sticks,  and  the  mortar  and 
pestle.  The  Haoma  juice,  like  the  Soma  of  the 
Hindus,  was  thought  by  our  fathers  to  possess 
divine  power  because  of  its  intoxicating  proper- 
ties. To-day,  however,  the  Haoma  sacrifice  is 
purely  symbolical,  as  you  see.  The  priest  there 
has  "shown  to  the  fire"  the  little  cup  of  Haoma 
juice  and  is  now  himself  taking  a  sip  of  it.  Watch 
him  as  he  presents  the  offerings,  that  small  cup 
of  milk,  and  those  cakes  and  fruits,  to  the  fire. 
This  whole  ceremony  is  supposed  to  be  very 
efficacious  in  overcoming  evil.  You  see  it  is  all 
very  simple,  but  to  us  Parsees  it  is  full  of  spiritual 
meaning.  Now  excuse  me  a  moment  as  I  have 
a  duty  to  perform  before  leaving  the  temple.  I 
must  secure  a  little  of  the  ashes  of  the  holy  fire 
and  apply  it  to  my  forehead,  for  this  reminds  me 
of  the  brevity  of  human  life  and  that  all  things 
must  finally  return  to  the  dust  again. 

Christian:  How  like  our  Christian  ceremony  in 
the  burial  service,  where  the  minister  says,  "Ashes 
to  ashes"! 

Parsee:  Yes,  much  as  we  differ  on  many  points 
of  doctrine,  men  of  all  religions  are  at  one  as 
they  face  the  universal  fact  of  death  and  con- 
template the  extreme  brevity  of  human  life. 
But  let  us  leave  the  temple  now  and  make  our 
way  back  to  Malabar  Hill.  Speaking  of  death, 
I  think  we  shall  see  a  funeral  this  morning,  for 
unless  I  am  mistaken  they  will  carry  the  body 


226  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

of  a  prominent  Parsee  merchant  who  died  last 
night  to  the  Towers  this  morning.  On  our  way 
to  the  Hill  let  me  describe  some  of  our  customs 
connected  with  death.  When  a  Parsee  is  ap- 
proaching the  end  two  priests  are  summoned  to 
recite  at  his  bedside  the  prayer  of  repentance 
and  to  give  him  a  sip  of  the  Haoma  juice  that 
has  been  consecrated  at  a  fire  temple.  Imme- 
diately after  death  the  body  is  carefully  washed 
and  other  sanitary  precautions  taken  to  avoid 
infection.  Two  watchers  are  placed  in  charge 
of  the  corpse  and,  in  accordance  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  Avesta,  a  dog  is  brought  in  to  view 
it.  This  act  is  variously  interpreted.  Some  say 
it  is  used  as  a  test,  for  the  dog  will  not  look  at 
the  body  unless  life  be  extinct.  Others  say  the 
visit  of  the  dog  symbolizes  the  loyalty  that  should 
exist  between  the  living  and  the  dead.  After 
the  visit  of  the  dog  the  sacred  fire  in  a  vase  is 
brought  and  placed  at  the  side  of  the  body. 
From  this  time  until  the  corpse  is  taken  to  the 
Towers  a  priest  sits  before  the  fire  and  recites 
passages  from  the  Avesta.  Finally  the  body 
is  carried  from  the  house  on  an  iron  framework 
by  two  corpse-bearers  and  the  funeral  procession 
starts  for  Malabar  Hill,  the  relatives  and  friends 
marching  always  in  pairs.  At  every  stage  of  the 
funeral  ceremony  all  the  participants  take  part 
two  by  two,  thus  symbolizing  the  interdependence 
and  the  need  of  sympathy  and  mutual  aid  in  our 
human  existence.     But  here  comes  the  funeral 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  227 

of  which  I  spoke  just  rounding  that  hill.  We 
will  follow  them  at  a  little  distance  up  the  steps 
and  into  the  inclosure  where  you  see  those  five 
Towers  of  Silence.  You  will  doubtless  notice 
that  all  these  people  are  clothed  in  white,  for 
this  is  our  sign  of  mourning.  There,  they  have 
now  reached  the  Tower  and  the  bearers  have 
placed  the  bier  on  the  ground  and  are  uncovering 
the  face  of  the  dead  man,  that  the  mourners  may 
take  a  last  look  at  their  friend.  Let  us  go  down 
this  path  that  we  may  get  a  better  view  and 
also  that  I  may  explain  by  means  of  yonder 
model  of  the  interior  of  the  tower  what  is  to  take 
place  next.  See  they  have  covered  the  face  again 
and  are  now  carrying  the  corpse  through  that 
little  doorway  into  the  tower.  You  know,  of 
course,  that  no  one  is  allowed  to  enter  it  except 
these  corpse-bearers,  who  take  great  precautions 
to  cleanse  and  disinfect  themselves  after  each 
funeral.  Now  I  must  explain  what  is  going  on 
within  the  tower  by  means  of  this  model.  You 
see  here  are  three  concentric  circles  of  shallow 
stone  receptacles  for  bodies  and  little  pathways 
between  the  circles.  The  outside  circle  is  for 
males,  the  middle  circle  for  females,  and  the 
inner  one  for  children.  In  the  very  center  of 
the  tower  is  a  deep  well,  and  toward  this  there 
is  a  gentle  slope  from  the  circumference.  Of 
course  the  tower  is  without  cover  and  entirely 
open  to  the  sky.  The  corpse-bearers  are  now 
stripping  the  body  and  laying  it  stark  naked  in 


228  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

one  of  the  receptacles  in  the  outer  circle.  I 
know  this  because  those  hundreds  of  vultures 
that  have  been  waiting  on  the  limbs  of  the 
trees  and  on  the  walls  of  the  other  towers  are 
beginning  to  fly  down  into  this  one.  See,  the 
two  men  already  are  coming  out  through  the 
door.  Within  about  an  hour  the  vultures  will 
have  stripped  the  flesh  entirely  from  the  body, 
leaving  only  the  bare  skeleton. 

Christian:  What  a  horrible  way  of  disposing 
of  the  dead! 

Parsee:  No  more  horrible  than  your  own 
custom  of  burying  the  dead  in  the  earth  to  let 
the  worms  slowly  feed  on  the  corpse  through  a 
period  of  several  years.  The  reason  why  our 
method  makes  such  a  revolting  impression  on 
you  is  because  the  destruction  of  the  body  hap- 
pens in  a  very  short  space  of  time  and  practically 
before  your  very  eyes.  It  is  largely  a  difference 
in  the  time  element  between  the  two  processes 
that  makes  you  exclaim  against  our  custom. 
Indeed,  our  way  of  disposing  of  the  dead  is  far 
more  sanitary  than  yours,  and  provides,  more- 
over, more  carefully  for  the  protection  of  the 
living  than  does  the  Christian  method  of  burial. 

Christian:  Well,  now  that  I  think  of  the  matter 
from  your  viewpoint,  I  begin  to  see  some  reason 
in  it.  What  happens  to  the  skeleton  left  behind 
bv  the  vultures? 

Parsee:  When  it  is  perfectly  bleached  and  dry 
the  attendants  will  push  it  into  the  well,  where  it 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  229 

will  crumble  away  under  the  action  of  quick  lime 
and  phosphorus.  An  elaborate  system  of  drainage 
by  means  of  sandstone  and  charcoal  filters  con- 
nected with  the  well  thoroughly  absorbs  what  is 
left  and  thus  all  chances  of  contamination  are 
eliminated.  The  mourners  will  soon  return  to 
their  homes,  and  after  washing  their  hands  and 
faces  will  recite  prayers  for  the  mercy  of  Ahura 
Madza  upon  the  spirit  of  the  deceased.  On  the 
fourth  day  after  the  funeral  there  will  be  a  feast 
and  a  special  service  at  the  Fire  Temple.  The 
entire  period  of  mourning  will  last  for  about  a 
month. 

Christian:  I  appreciate  your  coming  with  me  to 
see  these  famous  Towers  of  Silence,  but  I  am 
afraid  that  I  have  consumed  considerable  of  your 
precious  time.  It  is  now  nearly  noon  by  my 
watch.  There  is,  however,  one  more  question  for 
which  I  wish  you  would  furnish  me  an  answer. 
You  know  that  modern  philosophy  is  proposing 
what  appears  to  be  a  new,  though  in  reality  it  is 
very  old,  test  of  values.  It  teaches  that  we  must 
no  longer  estimate  the  worth  of  any  system  of 
teaching  in  an  abstract  way,  but  by  studying  how 
the  principles  express  themselves  in  life.  "Will 
it  work.'^"  is  the  question  of  our  day.  Judged  by 
such  an  experimental  test,  what  are  the  worthy 
fruits  of  Parseeism.^ 

Parsee:  Yes,  after  all,  there  is  no  better  test  of 
a  religion  than  that  of  your  Great  Master,  "By 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  and  I  am  glad 


230  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

to  turn  to  the  practical  side  of  our  faith  that  you 
may  see  how  well  it  measures  up  to  the  best 
standards  of  life.  Let  us  sit  on  yonder  bench  in 
the  shade  of  that  beautiful  tree  and  rest  as  we  talk. 
As  I  have  already  told  you,  Zoroastrianism  em- 
phasizes the  fact  that  life  is  a  constant  struggle 
with  evil  and  that  the  ultimate  purpose  of  it  all 
must  be  spiritual.  Therefore  our  morality  is 
active  and  practical,  not  contemplative,  like 
that  of  the  Hindus.  On  this  account  we  have  a 
strong  code  of  ethics  in  which  truthfulness  takes 
the  highest  place.  Herodotus  even  bore  witness 
to  our  hatred  of  lies.  I  believe  it  is  due  to  this 
sacred  regard  for  truth  in  the  making  of  contracts 
and  agreements  that  largely  accounts  for  the 
splendid  business  prosperity  of  the  Parsees.  We 
also  have  the  highest  regard  for  justice,  and  are 
careful  to  practice  it.  Everywhere  we  are  well 
known  for  our  industry  and  consequent  prosperity. 
Impurity  and  offenses  having  to  do  with  sex  rela- 
tions are  most  severely  punished  by  the  Parsees, 
and  therefore  you  seldom  hear  of  domestic  rup- 
tures among  our  people  such  as,  I  fear,  are  very 
common  in  America.  Moreover,  our  moral  teach- 
ings extend  to  the  care  and  proper  treatment  of 
the  body.  There  is  no  asceticism  in  Parseeism. 
The  Avesta  commands  neither  fasting  nor  flagel- 
lation. On  the  other  hand,  we  do  emphasize  the 
maintenance  of  sound  physical  health.  Our  Cat- 
echism makes  this  a  religious  duty  in  these  words: 
"The  mind  remains  sound  and  active  when  the 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  231 

body  is  kept  in  a  sound  state,  and  when  the  mind 
is  sound  and  active  our  soul  is  better  able  to  per- 
form righteous  actions.  By  performing  these 
righteous  deeds  we  please  Ahura  Madza."  Parsee 
morality  is  likewise  social  in  its  expression.  You 
have  seen  that  the  laws  of  the  Avesta,  like  those 
of  your  Old  Testament,  are  based  upon  considera- 
tions not  only  of  the  spiritual  but  even  of  the 
physical  welfare  of  the  community.  Many  of  our 
religious  rites  and  customs,  for  example,  are 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  sanitation.  The 
Towers  of  Silence  are  as  much  sanitary  as  sacred. 
So  we  enforce  as  a  command  of  religion  cleanliness 
in  our  homes  and  in  our  streets.  We  also  recog- 
nize our  obligation  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate. 
It  may  surprise  you  to  know  that  right  here  in 
Bombay  we  maintain  nearly  fifty  charitable  in- 
stitutions. Sir  Jamsejee  Jeejeeboy  in  his  day  had 
the  reputation  of  being  the  largest  giver  to  schools, 
hospitals,  and  charitable  institutions  in  the  world, 
and  this  form  of  good  will  was  exercised  not  only 
toward  the  unfortunate  of  our  own  people  but 
also  to  those  of  other  nations  and  religions.  The 
Parsees  are  said  to  contribute  more  to  charity  in 
proportion  to  their  numbers  than  any  other 
religious  sect. 

Christian:  Surely,  such  philanthropy  is  a  splen- 
did evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  your  religion. 
But  why  is  it  that  I  have  never  heard  of  a  Parsee 
mission  to  other  peoples.'^  Since  the  teachings  of 
the  Avesta  result  in  such  real  helpfulness,  it  would 


232  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

seem  that  you  ought  to  organize  a  propaganda  to 
reach  especially  the  needy  of  the  world. 

Par  see:  We  have  a  distinct  dislike  as  a  people 
for  making  converts.  We  prefer  that  the  influence 
of  our  faith  should  work  quietly  and  naturally 
upon  those  with  whom  we  mingle.  Nor  do  we 
wish  to  be  worked  upon  by  missionaries  of  other 
religions.  We  have  resisted  the  efforts  of  the 
Hindus  and  we  have  had  one  or  two  distasteful 
contacts  with  the  more  energetic  Christian  mis- 
sionaries. Let  me  hasten  to  say,  however,  that 
the  Parsees  recognize  the  great  contributions 
made  by  the  Christian  religion  toward  the  uplift 
of  humanity,  and  our  own  debt  to  the  English 
people  for  much  of  our  modern  progress. 

Christian:  Speaking  of  the  progress  of  the 
Parsees,  I  should  like  to  hear  about  your  modern 
educational  svstem. 

Par  see:  About  1850  we  started  schools  for  boys 
and  girls,  and  since  that  date  education  has  made 
very  rapid  progress  among  our  people.  Besides 
a  number  of  schools  directly  under  the  control 
of  the  Parsees,  we  also  send  many  of  our  children 
to  the  government  and  private  schools  of  Bom- 
bay. Many  Parsees  are  taking  high  places  not 
only  in  business  but  in  the  realms  of  politics, 
science,  and  education.  We  boast  the  smallest 
proportion  of  illiterates  among  all  the  various 
classes  of  peoples  residing  in  this  city.  Nor  is 
this  movement  one-sided,  since  we  make  splendid 
provisions  for  the  education  of  the  female  sex. 


A    GROUP    OF     PARSEE    SCHOOL    BOYS 


A    GROUP    OF    PARSEE    SCHOOL.    GIRLS 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  233 

Upon  the  whole,  I  think  we  are  farther  advanced 
than  Western  peoples  in  our  general  attitude 
toward  women.  Our  theology  at  this  point  is 
better.  We  hold  neither  that  woman  is  the 
temptress  nor  even  the  inferior  of  man.  In  line 
with  this  view  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes,  every 
opportunity  has  been  afforded  Parsee  girls  and 
women  for  larger  development,  and  they  have  not 
been  slow  in  seeking  this  higher  education.  More- 
over, they  have  acquitted  themselves  well,  and 
many  of  them  have  graduated  with  high  honors. 
Out  of  this  modern  educational  movement  too 
have  come  a  number  of  reforms  that  have  been 
of  great  benefit  to  our  people.  One  of  the  first 
fruits  was  a  successful  effort  to  purge  our  religion 
of  the  degrading  elements  of  Hinduism.  Another 
was  the  beginning  of  a  closer  study  of  our  own 
religion  and  the  publication  of  books,  magazines, 
and  pamphlets  setting  forth  our  doctrines  that  the 
outside  world  might  understand  the  principles  and 
practices  of  our  faith.  In  1859  the  Parsees  of 
Bombay  made  an  organized  attempt  to  reach 
their  fellow  Zoroastrians  in  Persia  and  succeeded 
in  helping  to  relieve  them  from  the  burden  of 
numerous  oppressive  laws.  One  of  the  best 
results  of  the  educational  movement,  however, 
was  the  raising  of  the  marriage  age,  and  the 
strengthening  of  rules  and  restrictions  governing 
offenses  against  this  relation.  Our  priests  are 
now  becoming  better  educated  and  during  the 
past  few  years   conferences   looking   toward   the 


234  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

further  purification  of  Parseeism  and  the  inau- 
guration of  other  reforms  have  been  held  annually 
in  Bombay.  So  you  see  we  are  striving  to  realize 
the  ideals  of  Zoroaster  and  to  continue  the  great 
struggle  toward  perfection  in  individual,  social, 
and  political  life.  Well,  it  is  now  quite  past  the 
noon  hour  and  I  must  keep  an  engagement  at 
two  o'clock.  So  I  will  have  to  leave  you  for  to-day. 
To-morrow,  if  you  wish,  I  will  meet  you  again  at 
your  hotel,  and  shall  be  glad  to  show  you  more 
of  our  city. 

Christian:  Let  me  thank  you  for  this  discussion. 
It  has  given  me  a  new  insight  into  your  religion 
and  a  new  sense  of  the  brotherhood  of  all  men. 
Good-by,  then,  until  to-morrow. 

Parsee:  I  am  glad  you  feel  as  you  do  about  our 
conversation  this  morning.  Some  day  before  you 
leave  I  wish  you  might  talk  to  me  in  this  same 
informal  way  about  the  Christian  religion.  I 
will  see  you  again  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Farewell. 


THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS  2S5 


REFERENCE  BOOKS  ON  PARSEEISM 

The  Story  of  Media,  Babylonia,  and  Persia:  Z.  A. 
Ragozin. 

History  of  the  Parsis:  Dosabhai  Framjee. 

The  Parsi  Rehgion:  J.  Wilson. 

The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Zoroaster:  L.  H.  ^Tiitney. 

Our  Own  Religion  in  Ancient  Persia:  L.  H.  Mills. 

The  Religious  System  of  the  Parsis:  Jivanji  Jamshedji 
Modi. 

A  Catechism  of  the  Zoroastrian  Religion:  Jivanji  Jam- 
shedji Modi. 

The  Naojote  Ceremony:  Jivanji  Jamshedji  Modi. 

The  Marriage  Ceremony  of  the  Parsis:  Jivanji  Jam- 
shedji Modi. 

The  Funeral  Ceremonies  of  the  Parsis:  Jivanji  Jam- 
shedji Modi. 


CHAPTER  VII 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION 


When  ye  pray  say  "Our  Father." — Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION 

In  our  study  of  tlie  religions  treated  in  the 
preceding  chapters  we  have  been  led  to  make  some 
comparisons  of  these  faiths  with  each  other  and 
with  Christianity.  Inasmuch  as  our  own  faith  has 
more  than  twice  the  number  of  followers  repre- 
sented by  any  other  single  world  religion,  and 
since  considerably  more  than  half  of  the  globe  is 
under  the  control  of  Christian  governments  and 
eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  inhabitable  land  is 
actually  occupied  by  Christians,  it  is  fitting  that 
as  we  come  to  the  close  of  our  discussion,  a  little 
space  should  be  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the 
reasons  for  such  numerical  superiority.  We  view, 
then,  the  world  religious  situation  first  of  all 
from  the  standpoint  of  statistics,^  and  find  that 
the  world  population  in  1896  was  1,487,900,000 
and  in  1916,  1,628,890,000.  With  this  increase 
in  the  number  of  the  earth's  inhabitants  nearly 
all  the  great  religions  showed  gains  in  the  number 
of  followers  with  the  exception  of  Buddhism, 
which  lost  more  than  9,000,000.  The  population 
of  the  globe  increased  during  the  twenty  years 
about  .094  per  cent,  and  in  this  period  Confucian- 
ism and  Taoism  practically  stood  still;  Hinduism 

^  Statistics  from  World  Almanacs  for  1896  and  1916. 

239 


240  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

gained  scarcely  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  world 
population,  while  Christianity  grew  by  more  than 
eighteen  per  cent,  and  Mohammedanism  by  over 
twenty-five  per  cent.  Thus,  while  such  an  analysis 
shows  that  Islam  has  been  growing  faster  during 
recent  years  than  Christianity,  a  survey  of  the 
field  as  a  whole  from  the  standpoint  of  numbers 
reveals  a  decided  victory  for  theism  and  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  universe  in  personal  terms 
as  against  the  atheistic  explanation  of  Buddhism. 
We  sum  up  the  numerical  strength  of  these  above 
faiths  to-day  as  follows:  Christianity,  564,510,- 
000;  Confucianism  and  Taoism,  300,830,000; 
Hinduism,  210,540,000;  Mohammedanism,  221,- 
825,000;  Buddhism,  138,031,000.  There  are  also 
about  158,270,000  persons  who  could  be  classified 
as  Animists,  and  approximately  100,000  Parsees. 
Leaving  now  the  consideration  of  the  strength 
of  the  Christian  faith  as  manifested  in  numerical 
superiority,  we  seek  to  find  the  secret  of  its  vital 
power  over  the  lives  of  men.  Whatever  theory  we 
may  adopt  to  account  for  the  varieties  of  religious 
systems,  a  comparison  of  Christianity  with  non- 
Christian  sects  strikingly  reveals  its  true  char- 
acter and  worth  in  those  elements  of  other  relig- 
ions that  it  embodies  or  rejects.  Christianity  takes 
up  and  gives  the  strongest  emphasis  to  the  ani- 
mistic sense  of  an  unseen  world,  but  strenuously 
opposes  primitive  superstitions  and  fanaticism 
even  when  presented  under  the  guise  of  modern 
cults;  it  carries  the  Taoist  notion  of  an  orderly 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  241 

universe  to  larger  definiteness  and  insists  that  the 
world  is  one  of  law;  it  accepts  and  indorses  the 
formal  ethics  of  Confucius  but  presses  the  demands 
of  the  moral  life  deeper — into  the  realm  of  desires 
and  motives.  The  Christian  religion  does  not 
lose  itself  in  the  pantheism  of  Hinduism,  but 
insists  on  the  nearness  of  God,  while  at  the  same 
time  preserving  his  vital  independence;  it  faces 
the  problem  of  evil  as  does  Buddhism,  but  its 
remedy  is  not  denial  and  negation.  Instead  it 
recommends  that  we  face  the  woes  of  life  and 
struggle  through  to  a  real  spiritual  conquest. 
With  just  as  much  vigor  as  the  Moslems,  Chris- 
tians emphasize  the  unity  of  God,  but  they  also 
proclaim  the  good  news  of  his  Fatherly  nature. 
While  Christianity  is  at  one  with  Parseeism  in 
many  doctrines,  its  distinctive  preeminence  is  to 
be  found  in  its  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christ  as 
found  in  the  Gospels  and  hence  it  recognizes  the 
larger  obligation  of  spreading  the  glad  tidings 
throughout  the  whole  world,  a  splendid  criterion 
by  which  to  judge  the  depth  and  vitality  of  pro- 
fessed beliefs. 

And  what  of  our  practical  test.^^  How  does 
Christianity  work  out  in  life.'^  What  is  its  con- 
tribution to  the  welfare  of  the  race.'^  From  the 
individual  standpoint  its  great  apologetic  is  the 
transformed  life.  Since  the  conversion  of  Saint 
Paul  history  has  been  constantly  repeating  itself 
in  like  far-reaching  changes  wrought  by  the  power 
of  the  gospel  in  the  hearts  of  men.     This  strange 


242  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

renewal  of  life  we  may  not  be  able  clearly  to 
analyze,  but  its  fruits  in  terms  of  better  conduct 
and  higher  individual  efficiency  and  service  to  the 
world  we  know  how  to  value.  Such  real  trans- 
formations are  so  numerous  as  persistently  to  be 
expected  wherever  Christianity  is  preached  and 
taught.  This  cannot  be  said  for  any  other  of 
the  world's  religions.  In  the  wider  ranges  of  life 
also  we  find  the  fruits  of  the  Christian  faith.  The 
home  in  its  most  highly  developed  form  as  a  potent 
influence  for  the  enlargement  and  betterment  of 
life,  in  spite  of  the  disintegrating  elements  at  work 
upon  the  institution  in  these  modern  days,  is  a 
Christian  product.  Likewise  the  highest  forms  of 
literature,  art,  and  music  have  for  their  inspiration 
and  their  themes  subjects  vitally  connected  with 
the  Christian  faith.  The  cause  of  education  too 
is  constantly  being  furthered  and  the  best  results 
attained  in  Christian  lands.  And  what  can  be 
said  of  governments  and  the  steady  forward  march 
of  democracy,  especially  in  English-speaking  coun- 
tries.^ Is  not  progress  at  this  point  due  to  the 
great  principles  laid  down  in  both  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testament,  which  the  Christian  conscience 
cannot  forget  .f* 

If  anyone  should  object  that  such  standards  of 
life  have  merely  relative  validity,  we  will  take  the 
vote  not  among  Occidentals  but  among  Orientals. 
Here  we  find  in  the  imitation  of  English-speaking 
manners  and  customs,  in  the  zeal  for  modern  edu- 
cation, in  religious  and  social  reform  movements. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  243 

that  old  ideals  set  up  under  the  influence  of  non- 
Christian  rehgions  are  being  forsaken  for  those  of 
the  Western  world,  and  that  even  now  the  leaders 
of  these  faiths  are  striving  with  but  small  success 
to  call  the  people  back  to  their  ancient  views  and 
customs.  Thus  these  great  objectives  are  taking 
on  an  absolute  character  for  the  human  race  as  they 
are  found  to  satisfy  the  deeper  instincts  of  men, 
and  form  a  reliable  test  by  which  we  may  measure 
the  worth  of  various  religious  teachings. 

But  deeper  still  we  find  a  unique  combination  of 
permanence  and  change  in  the  historical  unfold- 
ment  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  has  all  the 
characteristics  of  developing  life,  for  its  great 
essential  principles  have  remained  the  same 
throughout  the  centuries,  but  in  every  era  there 
has  been  some  new  interpretation  of  its  old  truths, 
some  new  application  of  its  ancient  teachings, 
some  new  demand  upon  the  consciences  of  men. 
For  example,  in  our  day  gospel  teachings  are 
receiving  a  larger  interpretation  than  ever  before 
in  their  bearing  upon  the  collective  life  of  human- 
ity, though  the  obligation  for  social  justice  always 
has  been  inherent  in  New  Testament  doctrine. 
There  is  also  a  strange  power  of  self-renewal 
characterizing  the  progress  of  Christianity.  This 
is  conspicuously  illustrated  in  the  reformations  of 
Luther  and  Wesley.  Here  also  we  may  find  the 
deeper  meaning  of  Europe's  horrible  conflict. 
Perhaps  if  we  could  forget  for  a  moment  the  awful 
physical  spectacle  with  its  terrible  carnage,   we 


<^44  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

might  see  that  a  mighty  spiritual  struggle  is  going 
on  that  shall  mark  a  new  epoch  for  faith. 

Where,  then,  can  we  find  the  key  to  this  unique 
vitality  and  power?  We  do  not  need  to  seek  far, 
for  the  answer  is  comprehended  in  one  word, — 
Christ.  We  stake  everything  on  him.  In  his  life 
taken  in  the  fullest  and  largest  sense  is  the  whole 
meaning  of  our  faith.  There  is  a  popular  idea 
sometimes  expressed  that  other  religions  make  as 
high  claims  for  their  great  teachers  as  does  Chris- 
tianity. Such  a  view  is  entirely  erroneous. 
None  of  the  world's  great  religions  have  ever 
contended  that  their  founders  possessed  unique 
natures.  Here  and  there,  of  course,  semiobscure, 
misguided  fanatics  have  made  Christlike  claims 
for  themselves,  but  these  persons  have  never 
attained  to  any  influence  or  standing  among  the 
great  of  earth.  Christ  stands  alone.  From  the 
ethical  standpoint  his  teachings  are  the  best  the 
world  has  ever  heard,  for  they  deal  not  only  with 
outward  expression  but  with  inner  life.  It  has 
been  claimed  that  many  of  his  sayings  show  the 
influence  of  Buddhism,  but  a  comparison  of  the 
best  of  Buddha  with  the  best  of  Jesus,  while  reveal- 
ing numerous  similarities,  shows  also  the  finer  devel- 
opment and  larger  comprehensivenesss  of  Christ. 
Jesus  Christ  not  only  taught,  but  he  actually  real- 
ized these  teachings  in  his  own  life,  so  that  to  this 
day  no  one  has  convinced  him  of  sin.  Certainly 
nowhere  else  in  history  do  we  find  another  instance 
of  living  moral  perfection.     His  death  also  was 


SUM:\rARY  AND  CONCLUSION         245 

full  of  meaning,  and  taken  in  connection  with  the 
words  and  acts  of  his  life,  constitutes  a  revelation 
of  the  nature  of  God  such  as  the  world  had  never 
before  seen.  Jesus  showed  the  real  hideousness 
of  sin  and  taught  us  to  say,  "Our  Father,"  thus 
opening  up  to  our  vision  a  new  vista  with  vast 
reaches  of  infinite  love.  The  historical  Christ  is 
even  more  to  us  than  all  this,  for  he  is  the  eternal 
humanitj^  of  God  himself  revealed  in  time,  and 
therefore  he  has  lifted  the  whole  religious  problem 
to  the  plane  of  personal  relationship  where  only  it 
can  be  understood  and  solved.  It  is  this  view 
that  constitutes  the  key  to  the  meaning  of  life. 
The  personal  interpretation  alone  can  bring  in- 
tellectual peace.  A  philosophy  built  on  any  other 
conception  drives  straight  to  wreck  and  ruin  in 
its  theory  of  knowledge,  in  its  metaphysics,  and 
finally  in  the  realm  of  practical  ethics.  Only  a 
religion  of  personal  relationships  can  produce 
motives  large  and  strong  enough  to  realize  moral 
ideals.  Such  a  religion,  and  only  such,  can  steel 
the  will  for  a  real  struggle  with  sin  and  the  evils 
of  life,  and  inspire  our  individual  and  collective 
life  with  the  real  swing  of  spiritual  conquest. 

It  is  this  Christ,  with  this  large  revelation  of  the 
intimate  personal  meaning  of  God's  relationship 
to  men,  that  humanity  can  never  forget.  No 
wonder  we  divide  history  into  two  great  divisions 
called  "before  Christ"  and  "after  Christ."  More- 
over, the  vitality  of  Christ  is  still  with  us,  molding 
and  shaping  the  race  with  the  passage  of  time  into 


246  ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS 

the  ideal  in  the  mind  of  God.  If  all  this  is  anthro- 
pomorphism, let  us  have  more  of  it,  for  it  works 
as  no  other  religion  on  earth  has  ever  worked.  The 
great  distinction  between  the  Oriental  faiths 
which  we  have  been  studying  and  Christianity 
lies  right  here.  In  Christ  the  Christian  faith 
possesses  a  power  that  brings  results  in  terms  of 
the  highest  conceptions  of  which  humanity  is 
capable,  while  non-Christian  religions,  in  spite  of 
their  lofty  ideals  and  purposes,  falter  and  largely 
fail  in  the  realm  of  actual  life. 

GENERAL  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

The  Sacred  Books  of  the  East:  F.  M.  Muller. 
American  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Religions:  By 

various  scholars. 
The  World's  Parliament  of  Religions:  J.  H.  Barrows, 

Editor. 
The  Faiths  of  the  World:  J.  Caird  and  others. 
Ten  Great  Religions:  James  Freeman  Clarke. 
The  Great  Religions  of  the  World:  H.  A.  Giles  and 

others. 
The  Religions  of  Eastern  Asia:  H.  G.  Underwood. 
Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India:  J.  N.  Farquhar. 
The  Religions  of  India:  E.  W.  Hopkins. 
India  and  Its  Faiths:  J.  B.  Pratt. 
Religion  and  Historic  Faiths:  O.  Pfleiderer. 
History  of  Religions:  G.  F.  Moore. 
The  Religions  of  the  World  and  the  World  Religion: 

W.  F.  Warren. 
Comparative  Religion:  F.  B.  Jevons. 
The  Non- Christian  Religions  Inadequate  to  Meet  the 

Needs  of  Men:  R.  E.  Speer. 
System  of  Christian  Doctrine:  Henry  C.  Sheldon. 
An  Outline  of  Christian  Theology:  W.  N.  Clarke. 


INDEX 


Ahriman,  the  deceiver  of 
mankind,  211 

Ahura  Madza,  Lord  and 
Creator,  211 

Akbar,  greatest  of  the 
Moguls,  181;  visit  to 
tomb  of,  182 

Ancestor  tablets,  50 

Ancestor  worship,  19;  in 
Canton,  49 

Animism,  simplest  known 
form  of  religion,  18; 
reference  books  on  sub- 
ject of,  38 

Arya  Samaj,  organization 
of  reform,  103;  a  product 
of  Western  India,  107 

Asoka,  King  of  Behar,  con- 
version of,  123 

Avesta,  The,  contents  of, 
208 

Baptism,  Christian  cere- 
monies of,  8 

Beggars,  51 

Benares,  a  panorama  of 
popular  Hinduism,  96 

Besant,  Mrs.  Anna,  suc- 
cessor of  Madame  Bla- 
vatsky,  101 

Bishop,  Mrs.  Isabella  B., 
cited,  31 

Blavatsky,  Madame  Helena 
Petrovna,    activities    of. 


99;  defense  of  attempted, 
100;  referred  to,  108 

Books,  Buddhist,  library 
of,  128 

Books,  general  reference, 
246 

Bo-Tree,  under  the,  113 

Bowne,  Professor  Borden 
P.,  incident  concerning, 
81 

Brahmanism,  claims  re- 
garding, 104;  reference 
books  on.  111 

Brahmans,  doctrine  of  rel- 
ativity of  all  knowledge 
known  by,  71 ;  reincarna- 
tion of  souls  taught  by, 
123 

Brama  Samaj,  reform  or- 
ganization, 103;  when 
founded,  105 

Brinton,  Professor  Daniel 
G.,  origin  of  religion  ex- 
plained by,  15,  16 

Buddh  Gaya,  one  of  the 
most  sacred  spots  in 
India,  119 

Buddha,  Gotama,  referred 
to,  56;  birth  of,  85; 
quoted,  114;  facts  in  life 
of,  115;  ministry  of,  120; 
tradition  concerning 
death  of,  137;  doctrines 
emphasized  by,  159 


247 


248 


INDEX 


Buddhism,  introduced  into 
Korea,  21;  lofty  concep- 
tion of  God  in,  34;  a  pro- 
test against  Brahman- 
ism,  123;  missionary 
propaganda  of,  124; 
story  of  modern  awaken- 
ing of,  135;  in  China  and 
Japan,  147;  an  estimate 
of,  158;  in  theory  agnos- 
tic, 160;  reference  books 
on,  165 

Buddhists,  fall  of  Koryu 
dynasty  attributed  to, 
20;  kindliness  and  char- 
ity among,  133 

Burma,  pilgrims  from,  126 

Calcutta,  religious  spec- 
tacle in,  81 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  person- 
ality of  Mohammed  ana- 
lyzed by,  170 

Caste  distinctions,  88; 
enumerated,  89;  penalty 
of  breaking  caste,  90; 
missionary  effort  forcing 
modification  of,  90 

Caves  of  Elephanta,  79,  83 

Ceremony  of  fire,  the,  84 

Chen  Chung,  visit  to  coffin 
of,  50 

Child-marriage,  c  o  n  s  e- 
quence  of  the  caste  sys- 
tem, 91;  an  example  of, 
91;  a  shameful  Moslem 
institution,  196 

Chinese  Hell,  a,  55 

China,  blessed  with  many 


forms  of  religion,  41; 
legends  and  superstitions 
in,  42;  absence  of  in- 
tolerance in,  56;  great 
awakening  of,  59 

Chinvat  Bridge,  belief  rel- 
ative to,  214 

Christianity,  symbolism 
used  in,  8;  compared 
with  spirit  worship,  33; 
response  of  animists  to 
teaching  of,  37 

Chu  Fu,  47 

Chun  Ka  Chil,  49 

City  of  the  Dead,  50 

Civilization,  Western, 
value  of,  33 

Confucius,  quoted,  40;  re- 
ferred to,  42;  China's 
greatest  teacher,  44 ; 
most  important  writings 
of,  45;  quoted,  45;  home 
town  of,  46;  referred  to, 
56 

Confucianism,  referred  to, 
29;  characterized  by 
lofty  conception  of  God, 
34 

Coulomb,  Madame,  100 

Creed,  Mohammedan,  a 
simple  one,  173 

Dalai  Lama,  palace  of,  141 

Darjeeling,  religious  peo- 
ple in,  143 

Davids,  Caroline  Rhys, 
cited,  129,  130 

Davids,  T.  W.  Rhys, 
quoted,  141-143 


INDEX 


249 


Dayanand  Saraswati,  re- 
ferred to,  108 

Dead,  the,  disposition  of, 
228 

Dead  Buddha,  figure  of 
the,  137 

Decorations,  funeral, 
sacredness  of,  32 

Democracy,  new,  pro- 
claimed by  Buddha,  160 

Diabutsu,  image  at  Nara, 
155;  at  Kamakura,  156 

Dragon,  a  monster  spirit, 
described,  28 

Demon  generals,  supersti- 
tions concerning,  29 


Feast  of  the  full  moon,  a, 
125 

Fergusson,  James,  quoted, 
179 

Fetishism,  20 

Fire  worshipers,  the,  203; 
discussion  of  history, 
doctrines,  and  customs 
of,  205-234 

"Forbidden  City,"  the,  140 

Four  Great  Truths  out- 
lined by  Buddha,  120 

Funeral  ceremonies,  31 

Funeral  procession,  de- 
scribed, 96,  97 

Future  of  Islam,  the,  198 


Eucharist,  the,  referred  to, 
8 

European  War,  outcome  of, 
62 

Evangelist,  every  Moslem 
an,  175 

Evolution,  doctrine  of,  ap- 
plication and  limitations 
of,  17 

Faith,  Christian,  fruits  of, 
242 

Fakirs,  or  'holy  men,"  de- 
scribed, 68;  woman 
priestess  among,  68 

Famous  sermon  at  Ben- 
ares, the,  120 

Far  East,  the,  religions  of 
considered,  7;  use  of 
symbolism  in,  8 

Farquhar,  J.  N.,  quoted, 
102,  109 


Gale,  Dr.  James  S.,  selec- 
tions from  translations 
of,  22-26;  quoted,  28 

Ganesh,  son  of  Shiva,  83 

Ganges,  the,  belief  concern- 
ing, 67 ;  scenes  along  the, 
96 

Ganpati,  god  of  good  luck, 
83 

Ghulam  Ahmed,  teachings 
of,  189;  significant  state- 
ment by,  190 

Gita,  the,  sale  of,  102 

"Glad  Tidings,  The,"  sys- 
tem of  knowledge  called, 
120 

God,  desire  for  direct  emo- 
tional communion  with, 
72 

Gods,  a  multitude  of,  77; 
comparatively  few  in  the 
age  of  the  Vedas,  84 


^50 


INDEX 


Great  Sage,  journey  to 
grave  of  described,  46 

Great  Temple,  the,  serv- 
ices in  described,  141, 
142 

"Greatest  Mountain,"  most 
sacred  spot  in  China,  46 

Hananim,  chief  of  spirits, 
27 

Hanuman,  god  of  faithful 
friendship,  83,  84 

Haonia  sacrifice,  described, 
225 

Hardwar,  visit  to,  67 

Harada,  Tasuku,  quoted, 
151 

Heaven,  worship  of,  41,  56 

Hindu  system,  the,  dis- 
cussed, 71 

"Hindu  University  of  Ben- 
ares," described,  99 

Hinduism,  darker  reali- 
ties of,  70;  popular,  72; 
practical  test  of,  76;  fail- 
ure of  practical  helpful- 
ness of,  77;  classification 
of  as  a  polytheistic  faith, 
78 

Hindus,  the  mystical,  65; 
search  of  for  final  truth, 
71;  their  insistent  em- 
phasis on  the  reality  of 
the  soul,  73 

Holm,  Frits  V.,  expedition 
organized  by,  53 

Holy  City  of  India,  the,  93 

Holy  Mountain  of  China, 
the,  51 


Idolatry,  20 

Indra,  god  of  the  firma- 
ment, 83 

India,  when  beliefs  of  took 
form,  85;  tendency  in  to- 
ward monotheism,  85; 
recent  change  in  atti- 
tude toward  religious 
problems  in,  110;  story 
of  conquest  of,  by  Islam, 
178;  Moslem  missionary 
movement  in;  diseases 
in,  197 

Japan,      modifications      of 

Buddhism   in,   150,   154; 

indigenous    religion    of, 

152 
Jesus  Christ,  Parsee  view 

of,     213;     quoted,     238; 

alone  as  an  example  of 

moral  perfection,  244 
Jones,    Dr.   George   Heber, 

incident  related  by,  35 
Jumna,  ceremony  on  banks 

of,  85 

Kaiser,  the,  belief  of  Mos- 
lems concerning,  201 

Kali,  referred  to,  94 

Kandy,  city  of,  referred  to, 
125 

Kant,  Immanuel,  doctrine 
expounded  by,  71 

Karma,  defined,  88 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  107 

Kija,  military  leader,  re- 
ferred to,  20;  tomb  of  de- 
scribed, 29 


INDEX 


251 


Koran,  literary  style  of, 
174;  rationalistic  inter- 
pretation given  to,  188; 
teaching  of,  regarding 
polygamy,  195;  appeal 
to  infallible  authority  of, 
199 

Korea — spirit  land,  13;  a 
field  for  the  study  of 
animism,  20;  called 
Chosen,  20;  success  of 
Christian  missionary 
effort  in,  33;  physical 
environments  favorable 
to  its  Christianization, 
34;  impression  of  gospel 
message  in,  35;  outlook 
for  Christianity  in,  36 

Koreans,  origin  of,  20;  be- 
lief of,  30 

Krishna,  nature  of,  82; 
homage  done  to,  85 

Kusinagara,  where  Buddha 
died,  125 

Kutb-un-din,  first  of  Slave 
kings,  cited,  178;  mosque 
built  by,  179 


Lama  Temple,  in  Peking, 
149;  convention  of 
priests  in,  150 

Laotsze,  quoted,  40;  found- 
er of  Taoism,  42;  the 
teachings  of,  42;  belief 
of,  43;  referred  to,  56 

Legge,  Dr.  James,  quoted, 
53 

Lhasa,  a  double  city,  141 


Lodge,  Sir  Oliver,  error 
cited  by,  161 

London  Society  for  Psy- 
chical Research,  100 

Luther,  Martin,  referred 
to,  123 

Lyall,  Leonard  A.,  referred 
to,  45 


Madras  Christian  College 
Magazine,  exposure  of 
Madame  Blavatsky  made 
by,  100 

Magic,  practice  of,  18 

Mara,  the  Buddhist  Satan, 
119 

Marriage  of  children,  a,  91 

Massacre,  Singapore,  the, 
200 

Mead,  G.  R.  S.,  referred  to, 
102 

Mela,  Hindu,  at  Hardwar, 
67 

Mikado,  obedience  to  en- 
joined, 152 

Missionary  endeavor,  Mos- 
lem, 177 

Moguls,  reign  of,  178; 
names  of,  181 

Mohammed,  quoted,  168;  a 
dominating  personality, 
170;  facts  in  life  of,  170, 
171 

Mohammedan  Educational 
Conference,  194 

Mohammedanism,  referred 
to,  42;  distinctively  a 
masculine  religion,   169; 


252 


INDEX 


countries  in  which 
propagation  of  has  been 
carried  forward,  169; 
character  of  its  founder 
taken  on  by,  170;  five 
items  in  doctrine  of, 
174;  in  India,  177;  artis- 
tic contributions  of,  180; 
golden  age  of  in  India, 
181;  inherent  fanaticism 
of,  189;  neglect  and 
abuse  of  childhood  in, 
192 ;  child-marriage  an 
institution  of,  193 ; 
degradation  of  women 
in,  195;  position  of  wom- 
en in  improving,  196; 
child-labor  a  social  evil 
in,  197;  dominated  by- 
spirit  of  a  holy  war,  200; 
fighting  each  other  in 
Europe,  201;  reference 
books  on,  202 
Mohammedans,  story  of 
evangelistic  ardor  of  one 
of  them,  176;  bad  en- 
vironments of  the,  192; 
evils  associated  with  the, 
193;  known  as  a  tem- 
perance people,  198 
Moslem  decline,  era  of,  188 
"Moslem  peril,"  still  exist- 
ent, 201 
Moslem  millions,  the,  167 
Most  beautiful  building  in 

the  world,  the,  183 
Monkey    Temple,    the,    de- 
scribed, 93;   dedicated  to 
worship  of  Durga,  94 


Mount    Everest,    visit    to, 

145 
Muttra,  religious  ceremony 

at  described,  85 
Mysticism,    Christian    and 

Hindu,  tendencies  of,  72; 

Hindu,    fully    developed, 

85 

Naojote  ceremony,  218 
Nestorian    Monument,   dis- 
covery    of,     53;      when 
erected,  54 

Olcott,  H.  S.,  association  of 
with  theosophy,  99;  re- 
ferred to,  108 

On  the  roof  of  the  world, 
140 

"Pan-Islam,"  modern  cry 
of,  199 

Pantheon,  Indian,  79 

Parsee,  conversation  of 
Christian  with,  205-234 

Parseeism,  essence  of,  211; 
doctrine  of  immortality 
of,  215;  marriage  cere- 
mony of,  220;  educa- 
tional system  of,  dis- 
cussed, 232 

Parsees,  attainments  of  in 
morals,  214 

Parvati,  or  Kali,  consort 
of  Shiva,  81;  the  per- 
sonification of  nature  in 
her  terrible  aspects,  82 

Peking,  deterioration  of 
Buddhism  seen  in,  149 


INDEX 


253 


Peking       University,       re- 
ferred to,  61 
Peters,  Carl,  quoted,  201 
Philology,    science    of 

against  easy  naturalistic 

explanation   of  religious 

origins,  18 
Philosophies,  Oriental  and 

Occidental,  75 
Pikrawa,      birthplace      of 

Buddha,  125 
Pitakas,    leaves    from    as 

souvenirs,  128 
Plato,  referred  to,  71 
Polo,    Marco,    referred    to, 

148 
Pratt,      Professor      James 

Bissett,  quoted,  78 
Puritan  New  England,  the 

opposite  of  Japan,  157 

Rama,  story  of  incarna- 
nation  of,  83,  84 

Ramakrishna,  modern 
mystic,  106 ;  favorite 
phrase  of,  107 

Ram  Mohun  Roy,  theistic 
Church  founded  by,  105 

Recent  practical  move- 
ments, 192 

Reform  movements,  102 

Reformers,  rallying  cry  of, 
103;  some  modern,  187 

Relativity  of  all  knowl- 
edge, doctrine  of,  71 

Religion,  no  tribe  or  peo- 
ple without  a,  13;  views 
as  to  origin  of,  16,  17; 
reception  of  Western  in 
China,  60 


Religious  instinct,  origin 
of,  14-16 

Religious  life  of  the  Par 
East,  the  extremes  con- 
cerning to  be  avoided,  8 

Revolts,  two,  cited,  84,  85 

Rig-Veda,  the,  quoted,  66 


"Sacred  Lady  of  the  Moun- 
tain," 52 
Saiyad  Ahmed  Khan,  Sir, 
theological  and  educa- 
tional movement  due  to, 
188 
Seoul,      Buddhist      priests 

excluded  from,  21 
Shah  Jahan,  builder  of  the 

Taj  Mahal,  183 
Shamans,   18;    two  power- 
ful classes  among,  30 
Shamanism,    19;    sway    of 
over  Koreans,  21,  22;  no 
temples     for,     29;     how 
best   studied,    31;    refer- 
ence books  on  subject  of, 
38 
Shinto,     indigenous      reli- 
gion of  Japan,  152 
Shiva,  god  of  modern  Hin- 
duism,     79,     80;      story 
concerning,  95 
Shrine  of  the  Tooth,   the, 

worshipers  at,  127 
Siddhattho,     Prince      (Go- 

tama  Buddha),  115 
"Slave"  dynasty,  beginning 

of,  178 
"Society  for  the  Defense  of 


254 


INDEX 


Islam,  The,"  formation 
of,  191 

"Son     of     Heaven,"     title 

%  given  emperor  of  China, 
57;  applied  also  to  presi- 
dent of  Republic,  59 

"South  Gate  of  Heaven," 
46,  51 

Spirits,  the  worship  of,  20; 
great  and  small,  27;  dis- 
cussed, 33 

Statistics,  religious,  240 

Strange  rites  and  customs, 
29 

Summary  and  conclusion, 
237 

Sunday  School  Board,  Bud- 
dhistic, 136 

Sun  Goddess,  152 

Taboo,  19 

Tagore,  Sir  Rabindranath, 
quoted,  74;  referred  to, 
109 

Taian,  city  of,  41 

Tai  Shan,  oldest  place  of 
worship  in  the  world,  41; 
visit  to,  51 

Taj  Mahal,  cost  of,  183; 
sad  facts  in  connection 
with  erection  of,  184; 
description  of,  185-187 

Taoism,  21;  crude  concep- 
tion of  law  and  order 
found  in,  42;  priests  and 
priestesses  found  in,  43; 
reference  books  on,  63 

Taylor,  William,  a  convert 
of,  79 


Temple  of  Confucius,  de- 
scribed, 48,  49 

Temple  of  Five  Hundred 
Ahrants,  visit  to,  148 

Temple  of  Heaven,  57; 
when  erected,   58 

Temple  of  the  Tooth,  the, 
described,  126 

Theosophical  Society, 
founding  of,  99;  union  of 
with  Arya  Samaj,  108 

Theosophy,  rise  and  fall  of, 
98-102 

Tibet,  a  closed  country, 
100;  unanimous  in  faith, 
140 

Tibetans,  cheerfulness 
among,  134 

Tilak,  Narayan  Vaman, 
Christian  poet  of  India, 
quoted,  75 

Tolstoi,  Leo,  quoted,   189 

Totemism,  19 

Transmigration  of  souls, 
great  doctrine  of  Hindus, 
87 

"Trimurti,"  Hindu  trinity, 
80,  81,  83 

Turks,  friendship  of  culti- 
vated by  Germany,  201 

Twain,  Mark,  referred  to, 
95 

Typical  Korean  tales,  22 

Two  interesting  conversa- 
tions, 132 

Two  remarkable  images, 
136 

"Uninscribed  Tablet,"  52 


INDEX 


^55 


Vedas,    ancient,    teachings      Wylie,  M.  A.,  quoted,  54 
of,  71 


Vishnu,  the  Preserver,  82 
Visit  to  a  monastery,  138 

Westerners,    Christian 

morality  of,  61 
Williams,  E.  T.,  cablegram 

sent  by,  60;  quoted,  61 
Wilson,  Dr.  John,  referred 

to,  210 
World,  population  of,  239 


Yuan  Shih  Kai,  referred 
to,  57,  58,  59 

Zion's  Herald,  referred  to, 
9 

Zoroaster,  quoted,  204; 
facts  in  life  of,  207 

Zoroastrianism,  similari- 
ties of,  to  Christian 
faith,  205;  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Creed  of,  211 


._< 


Date  Due 

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<  »J  *JUU  UUi«  Mi»4*i 


